Kingdom Hearts III
by EscapeArtist25
Summary: The three keyblade bearers embark on yet another adventure. Who do they fight this time? What does the darkness have in store for the trio? SoraxKairi, some RoxasxNamine. My first fanfic, R&R appreciated! NOTICE: I HAVE CHANGED THE RATING TO T
1. Reunited

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would be making the game, not writing the story.

Italicized words are thoughts, underlined italicized words are the nobodies.

Sora looked up at Kairi as he placed his hand in hers, giving back the promised "lucky charm". "We-We're back!" He said as he smiled at the crimson-haired girl. She smiled and replied, "You're home!" Riku smiled at the two, knowing the thoughts that must be going threw their heads at that moment. He thought to himself, "When will those two ever figure out that they love each other?" He knew they were meant for each other. Sora knew it too, _God, she looks so beautiful._ Sora had been wanting to tell her his true feelings ever since she saved him in Hollow Bastion, but his crush on her eventually developed into much more during the year he was sleeping. She had grown from a child into a woman, a crazy fun girl into a sophisticated, fun-to-hang-out-with lady. He loved her, but he never had the chance to tell her. "Welp, I'm afraid that Donald, Goofy, and I must be off, we must return to Disney Castle," the King announced. Sora, Riku, and Kairi agreed in unison, "Okay." Riku told the other two that they should probably be getting home, they all needed their rest after their long journey. They all made plans to meet up at the island the next morning at ten. So, the trio each got into their boat and rowed toward the main land of Destiny Islands. Once they got there, Riku immediately ran towards his house. "Wow", Kairi laughed, "I guess he got homesick." Sora agreed, "Yeah, but I have to," "It's cold tonight, let me walk you home Kairi." He put his jacket over her shoulders and she gladly took it. She thought, _Wow, he always smells so good! _

_That's because you love him._ Namine thought.

_Hey I didn't ask for your opinion Namine._

_Whatever, but you need to tell him._

_I know, I'll get around to it._

She hadn't noticed that Sora had been staring at her during that whole thought process. "Has Namine been bothering you again?"

"Yeah, what about Roxas, does he always but in too?"

"Yep, can't shut him up.

_HEY!!! _

_Chill Roxas! I was just putting humor into the situation, you know you're my buddy._

_I know, and as your buddy, when are you going to tell her?_

_Huh?_

_When are you going to tell Kairi you love her?_

I don't know, I guess when the time is right, I just don't want things to be weird if she doesn't feel the same way.

_Oh my God, it's soooo obvious Sora! _

_What is?_

_Forget it._

When the two arrived at Kairi's door, she told Sora thanks and handed the jacket back to him, reluctantly. "I want to keep your jacket forever, it smells good!", she said laughing.

"Keep it, I have plenty."

"Really?"

"Sure." "I'll see ya tomorrow at the island."

"Okay, goodnight Sora."

"G-goodnight Kairi."

Sora hated the thought of leaving her, he wanted to be with her forever, always by her side, but he just shrugged it off and went home.


	2. So Much for a Normal Day at the Beach

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Kingdom Hearts.

Sora woke up the next day, anxious to see Kairi again. He hurried and got dressed in his black hoodie and shorts, the magic clothes the fairies gave him. He ran down to the beach, and he could see the princess standing on the dock, looking out at the vast blue ocean. _I can't believe I get to spend the whole day with Kairi, but I wonder why Riku called and said he couldn't meet us today._

_Perfect, now you can tell her._

Oh great, Roxas.

_Hey I'm just tryin to help you man._

Alright, but I still don't know… 

What is there left to figure out? You love her. You need to tell her. Wow man you're not one for concepts are you?

Just because it was easy for you to tell Namine doesn't mean it's easy for me to tell Kairi.

Well it should be, after all, I AM you.

Okay, but don't bug me, I have to wait for the opportune moment.

Whatever you say, Other.

Kairi saw Sora walking towards her, "Sora! Hey!"

"Hey Kairi."

Wow she looks so beautiful, it's going to be hard for me to tell her.

"Hey Kairi, Riku called me this morning and said he couldn't meet us here today."

"Okay. I guess it's just us then." She smiled.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Sora asked uncomfortably.

"Well", she replied, "We could go to the secret place and just you know, hang out."

"Okay, sounds good."

They both went to the secret place under the hanging vines and sat down next to the pictures they drew on the walls when they were kids. "So Sora, what made you draw this paopu fruit you gave me on the wall?"

"Well, uh…"

C'mon man! Out with it!

"I uh, heard Riku talk about it and I wanted to draw me giving it to you because um…"

That's it. 

"Because I wanted to be friends with you forever."

Aw. So close.

Normally, if heard from anyone else, Kairi would think that was a sweet thing to say. After a few seconds, she knew she should say something. "Uh thanks, Sora, I want to be friends with you forever too." She came off to Sora perfectly normal, but on the inside she felt like she was dying. She knew she loved him, and she thought he had loved her too, but then she began to criticize herself for being wrong. She had this painful feeling in her chest, like her heart had just turned to stone and her ribs could no longer support it. She felt as if her lungs had sank and she couldn't get a good breath. She told Sora that it was fun hanging out with him today, but she had to go home. She didn't give a reason.

Why doesn't he love me? I really thought he did! What is wrong with me? Why did I put myself in that position?

Go easy on yourself Kairi, Namine suggested. You didn't know, and he might have just been to nervous to say he loved you.

I wish, look how easy it was for Roxas to tell you he loved you. If Sora and Roxas are technically the same person, and Sora didn't say anything, it must not be true.

But they are TECHNICALLY the same person, they still have traits that the other doesn't possess. Maybe Sora is just more scared to tell you than Roxas was when he told me.

I don't know, but thanks for trying to make me feel better.

No problem.

I think you hurt her. Roxas told Sora.

No I didn't. What makes you say that?

Duh, she "had to leave" all of a sudden, after planning to spend the day with you and then only spending ten minutes with you? Throw me a bone here, am I the smart one of us or something?

Well maybe she forgot to do something and she really did have to leave.

Sure, Sora. Sure.

The trio met up at the beach everyday that next week. On the one week anniversary of their return home, Kairi found something interesting and intimidating. She found Riku and Sora talking about something on the island and started running over there.

"Hey Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did it come from?"

"Where did what come from?"  
"You know, the door to the light."

Riku grinned and pointed to Sora's chest.

"This? My heart?"

"Yeah", Riku said. "It's always closer than you think."

Sora smiled and then suddenly he could see out of the corner of his eye, a red-haired angel running towards them with a worried look on her face.

"SORA! RIKU!"

"What's wrong Kairi?," Sora asked.

"I found this washed up on the beach, look at the seal."

Sora saw the seal, it was a small black mouse head. "The King?"

Kairi became impatient. "Sora, what does it say?"

"It says…"


	3. Dear Weilder of Light

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

"It says…" Sora hesitated opening the letter, knowing that it might mean leaving his home, again.

_Dear Wielder of Light,_

_It seems I have come upon some bad news. I have just learned from Master Yen Sid that Malificent is back, and she has a plan to destroy some of the worlds. They may need your help again. I know you just got back, and I'm so sorry, but we need your help right away before things get worse. Accompanying you on this journey will be Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket. I also ask that the Wielder of Dawn and the Princess join you. She can use her keyblade. You will find the Highwind off of the shore on the other side of the large ship on your island. I request that you come to Disney Castle as soon as you receive this message so that I may instruct you and the group on what to do. _

_Sincerely, King Mickey._

They all read the letter, eyes growing wider with every word.

"Well, you know what this means Sora.", Kairi said. She regretted reading the letter. She couldn't stand the thought of losing Sora. Not again.

"I've got to go, guys, I can't let Maleficent use the power of darkness to capture the worlds. And she probably has other things in mind too. Will you come?", Sora asked.

"I'm willing to go."

"Well I kinda thought you might want to, Kairi." They all laughed.

"If the worlds need us, then the Wielder of Dawn can't say no either."

"Alright, we should go tell our parents that we have to leave, I know my mom will hold onto me for at least an hour, so let's meet at the Highwind at two."

They agreed. As Kairi was walking home, a very impatient Namine was beginning to get on her nerves.

_WHY don't you just tell him?_

_I told you Nam, he doesn't love me._

Yes he does, why else would he always want to be around you? He GAVE you his favorite jacket for Pete's sake.

_Maybe he was just being nice. You know Sora._

Yes, I DO know Sora, I pieced back his memories for a year, and he loves you.

_What if he doesn't anymore?_

You don't just stop loving somebody, you can't. You need to tell him.

I'm not in the mood right now Namine, I'm worried about losing him again. I won't be able to take that pain. I need to just rest right now okay?

_Ok, but don't think this subject is being dropped forever._

Meanwhile, Roxas wasn't being the best "Other" either. _Tell her._

No.

_Tell her!_

_No!_

_O c'mon would ya just TELL HER??!!!!_

Roxas stop it, I'm going to. I have a plan.

_Oh really what's this plan?_

I have been to Disney Castle before, the garden is really pretty, and there is this bush that is hidden in between some flowers, it's really beautiful, when we get there, I'm going to take her there and tell her.

Wow, you're quite the romantic. That is, if you don't chicken out.

_I won't._


	4. Maleficent's Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

The three met up two hours later at the Highwind. They all got in and buckled up. "Ready for takeoff?" The brunette asked.

The other two shouted "YEAH" over the loud noise of the ship starting up. The ship was running smoothly, but Sora noticed something wrong.

_I wonder why Kairi hasn't spoken much this trip._

You know why, she loves you, and you practically built her up to tell her, then clobbered her.

_Yeah that might be it. But I'll fix everything tonight when we get to Disney Castle._

Kairi, too, was in deep thought.

I really wish he loved me, I don't understand Namine. All the things he did and said over the past two years have really led me to believe that, then he just told me he wanted to be friends for the rest of our lives.

Like I said before, I really do think he loves you, he probably just got shy. Sora can be that way sometimes.

Suddenly, Riku's voice chimed in, "Why are you two so quiet? That's not normal for you guys. Especially Sora."

Sora laughed and said "Shut up, Riku!"

Kairi felt herself chuckle a little bit too.

"Well, you boring wielders, the wielder of dawn is going to take a nap now, so wake me when we get there or I will have to kick someone's butt!"

All three laughed and Riku fell fast asleep. Sora desperately wanted to tell her now, since they were alone. He wanted to get it all over with, but he wanted to do this right. Kairi meant more to him than anything in the world. And although he wanted to see her happy now, he wanted to wait until Disney Castle more, so that he could tell her in a romantic environment.

You won't have to wait much longer Sora, we're almost there, just don't lose your nerve.

Thanks Roxas.

Riku awoke when the ship started spinning uncontrollably into a portal.   
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" he screamed, thinking that something was wrong.

"NOTHING, THIS IS JUST HOW THE SHIP LANDS", replied Sora.

Before they knew it, they were in the gummy hangar, Kairi's first words were "WOW, this place is HUGE!"

"Wait till you see the castle!" Just then, two familiar clumsy faces came running down the stairs and jumped into Sora's arms. "Donald! Goofy!" he yelled ecstatically.

"Boy are we happy to see you, Sora", Kairi laughed, although what Donald just said was barely understandable. "I'm glad to see you guys, too."

"Hyuck well gawrsh Sora, we better go and see King Mickey now."

"Okay" The three wielders and the two clumsy Kings attendants walked towards the castle.

Kairi couldn't believe her eyes, this castle was the biggest thing she had ever seen(besides Castle Oblivion, of course). When the castle's guards saw Kairi and the other wielders, they bowed. "What is this all about?" Kairi asked.

"Uh, Kairi, you're a princess, remember?" Sora giggled.

_God I love his laugh. _They came up to the door of the library, where Chip and Dale told them to meet the King. "Hello there, fellas!" the King greeted Sora and Riku. Then he saw Kairi and bowed to her. "Ma'am." Kairi couldn't help but smile, she wasn't used to being treated so royally.

"Welp, I guess it's time I tell you why you're here." The King began, "All I can tell you is that Malificent is back, along with some of the other villains that you defeated. There are no more Nobodies, because Xemnas can't come back. However, Maleficent is conspiring with the other villains and planning to use her heartless and new enemies against you called "Chasers", but Master Yen Sid will tell you more about them when you go to Twilight Town tomorrow. Anyway, there is also something else you should know about. Maleficent has taken over the hearts of some of your friends from the worlds that you visited last time, such as Auron, and some of the other villains will work for her too."

"AURON!" Donald, Goofy, and Sora were devastated.

"Yes, you can get them back, but you have to retrieve their hearts and give them back to their owners. That is all that I can tell you, but Master Yen Sid will fill in the blanks and go into greater detail tomorrow. You may stay in the castle tonight, and then go to twilight town to talk to him tomorrow. You're dismissed. Donald, Goofy, please show them to their chambers."

The two stood up straight and put their hands on their heads, saluting the King, "Yes your majesty!".

Once Riku found his room, he went straight to bed, after taking a hit by Kairi calling him a "lazy bum". Sora found his and Kairi found hers, then she started to walk in, she told Sora good night, and he almost let her slip into the room, but then gently grabbed her shoulder and looked straight into those sparkly blue eyes and with a very serious face he said "Kairi, wait. I need to talk to you."

_Attaboy,_ Roxas said.

Kairi was surprised, she hardly ever saw Sora looking like that.

_What could be wrong? _She thought.


	5. I Love You

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Sora held out his arm to Kairi motioning for her to take it. "Shall we, Princess?" She blushed. She hadn't heard him sound that way before, like such a gentleman, and addressing her with "Princess?" She was wondering what in the world he would want to talk with her about.

_I know._

_You do not Namine._

_Hmm. Okay, but I know and it's a good thing._

_Tell me!_

_Nah you're gonna have to find out for yourself._

After what seemed like forever but in reality was only about 5 minutes, Sora had led Kairi to a bush secluded by beautiful flowers. "Wow".   
"I know", he replied. "Let's sit down okay Princess?"

"Okay, but Sora you don't have to call me Princess, just call me Kairi like you usually do."

"Okay, Kairi there is something I need to tell you."

She laughed, "I know Sora, you already said that."

He smiled at her and looked deep into her eyes.

_I have never seen anyone more beautiful._

"Kairi, remember what I said back at the island about the paopu fruit?"

"Yes."

"Well, I do want us to stay friends forever, but that's not exactly what I meant."

Wow Sora, nice. Perfect timing, the sun is about to set, this is the time, and you're not even chickening out!

_Shh! Roxas you're ruining the moment!_

Oh, sorry.

"Anyway Kairi, when I first met you, I knew we would be friends forever. But sometimes things change, and uh…"

_Oh no here we go, just spit it out Sora!!!_

"I-I"

"What's wrong Sora?"

"Kairi, I-"

"Kairi, I think I'm in love with you."

Finally. 

Kairi was so surprised that she couldn't mutter anything back right away.

_Oh, my god. Namine you were right._

Of course I was.

At first Sora thought she didn't feel the same way, but then when she smiled and a tear ran down from her bright beautiful eyes he saw that she loved him too. Sora started to feel tears forming in his eyes also.

_Oh come on pull yourself together Sora you wuss!_

_Shut it Roxas._

"Sora, wow. I love you too." Sora smiled and couldn't help a tear falling. Kairi threw herself at his body and embraced him. His smell was so invigorating she didn't want to let go. She had loved him ever since he had saved her at Hollow Bastion. She had always had a crush on him, but once she saw how brave and selfless he was, the feeling grew into more until she knew she loved him. For the next ten minutes they just held each other close, wishing for the moment never to end. "Sora?"

"Hmm?"

"It's getting late, we should probably go back to our rooms."

"Hm? Yeah you're right. I'll walk you back Pri-I mean Kairi."

"Okay. Thanks." Sora just nodded his head and then they walked back to Kairi's room, arm in arm. _My princess. _He thought the whole way back. After they reached Kairi's room, she hugged him one last time, and he never wanted to let go. Her hair and body smelled so great, there was no way to describe it. Kairi just had that scent. That scent that always made Sora go weak in the knees, the one that made him attracted to her more and more. They finally let go of each other, reluctantly. She slipped into her room and told him goodnight. "G-goo-goodnight Kairi." He could barely mutter the words. _Her voice is so…beautiful, so…angelic. _Sora walked back to his room looking smiling like he had walked around with a hanger in his mouth all day. The only thing running through his mind was a picture of her. With all of his emotions overpowering him, Roxas was surprised that he actually made it to his room. He just lay there for an hour thinking about his Princess, his Angel, until finally he fell into a deep sleep.


	6. There's a War Coming

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney

Sora awoke promptly at 8am and got dressed. He couldn't believe the night of sleep he got. It was the most rejuvenating ever.

_It's probably because of all that happened last night._

_Yeah, that would explain it._

Kairi woke up feeling so fresh she could have sworn she slept for days even though she really only slept for 8 hours.

_I can't believe what happened last night. It feels more like a dream._

_I told you so._

_Hey I already told you you were right. _

She got up and took a shower and got dressed and hurried to the library.

Sora was already waiting there, along with Riku and the others. She was surprised to see Roxas out of Sora's body though. "Roxas, why are you out of Sora's body?"

"Well good to see you too", Roxas said sarcastically. Kairi laughed.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that, I…" just then Namine came out of Kairi's body and ran up to Roxas. "Roxas! I missed you!"

"I missed you too Nam." He held her in his arms while Sora and Kairi and the others stood there dumbfounded. "I guess it's time to explain why these two can be on their own now." The king admitted. "When in times of great danger, Roxas and Namine have the ability to be on their own, so Kairi and Sora have extra help."

"OOOOOOO" they all said in unison. "Well, Sora, Riku, do you still have your magic?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Okay, then Donald, take Kairi out to the courtyard and show her the magic spells."

"Yes, your highness."

"Meanwhile, Sora and Riku, you need to read this book. It explains some more about what this war is about."

They shouted back, surprised, "WAR!?"

"Yes, there is a war coming, a war between light and dark, you seven will be soldiers in that war."

"Now Sora, look back at your two past adventures. Try calling back a keyblade that you have not used since you were in that adventure." Sora put his right hand out closed his eyes, and expected a keyblade to appear in his hand. Nothing came. "What?! It didn't come to me."

"Exactly. Sora, there are so many keyblades that it is quite possible that anyone with a heart that is strong can weild one. Maleficent has recruited soldiers with the purest of hearts to fight on her side, and they too, can weild a keyblade. The only keyblades that the light has possession of right now are the keyblades that you, Riku, Roxas, and Kairi hold. To defeat Maleficents army, you will have to defeat anyone you see carrying a keyblade that is not of the four of you. By doing this, you will free their heart so that they may return to where Maleficent has called them from, and you will also gain possession of the keyblade that they possessed."

"So is that our main mission this time then, your majesty?"

"Yes, however, the worlds are also counting on you guys to free them of the hold the darkness has over them. The worlds are where you will find the soldiers of the dark. Do you understand everything I have told you?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good, then go get Donald and Kairi and explain everything to her. Then board the gummi ship and head to Twilight Town so that you may speak with Master Yen Sid."

All of them agreed, "Yes, your majesty."

Namine explained everything to Kairi while the group was on their way to Twilight Town. Suddenly all except for Sora, Donald, and Goofy fell to the floor. "I TOLD YOU GUYS THE SHIP SPINS WHEN WE ENTER A PORTAL!" Sora screamed. They however were used to it. After the landing, Kairi was exhausted, "Wow, it was hard trying to hold on to my seat when it was spinning, I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

Sora suddenly stopped in his track. "This is the master's tower."


	7. Chasers

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Kingdom Hearts, but I don't.

They all walked up to the tower, and they saw the portal that would take them to Yen Sid's chamber. "Sora," Kairi asked, "Is this portal going to spin me around too?" Sora blushed. _It's so cute when you get scared. I'll protect you. _"No, but we'll go together, okay?" He reached out his hand and she gladly took it, the touch of her hand against his made a chill go up her spine. He was so afraid that she saw his cheeks turn blood red, but she was focused on his eyes. _Those beautiful, cerulean eyes, _she thought. Sora had the same tingly feeling every time his body ever came close to touching hers. Then the two were sucked back into reality. "Come on will you guys please hurry?!"

"Don't get anxious Roxas, we don't want you making decisions too quickly when we are in battle." Sora said. Sora and Kairi walked through the portal, followed by Namine and Roxas hand in hand, then Riku, rolling his eyes. Donald and Goofy had already gone through and ran up to see Yen Sid.

When they got to the top of the tower, they were all greeted by the three fairies that clothed Sora before, and of course, Master Yen Sid. "Ah, the keyblade weilders, it's wonderful to see you all." The others bowed. "Let me explain your enemies. There are, of course, the Heartless, but there is also another group you need to worry about. They are the Chasers."

"Chasers?"

"Hold on boy", he said to Sora, "Anyway, these Chasers have hearts and souls but lack bodies. They cannot be whole. Maleficent is using them to fight off the soldiers of the light. She told them that by killing the soldiers of the light, they could inhabit the soldiers' bodies. They will take the form of people, only they will look like shadows, similar to the Heartless, but resembling humans. Are there any questions?"

"No, your highness." They all said.

"Very well then, Kairi, Sora, you need to go see the fairies, they have some new garments for you. Namine and Roxas need to go too, the fairies need to explain how they can help Sora and Kairi with the powers that the clothes come with."

Sora and Kairi went into the room where the fairies were. "Well hello there dears."

"Hey Fauna, Flora, Merryweather, this is Kairi, she is going to be coming with us this time."

"OH!" They all exclaimed. "This is the girl you mentioned so many times before, the one you saved the last two adventures."

"Yes" He blushed and looked at his princess, "She was worth the saving, worth my life." A tear ran down her face, and after many "Aw's" from the Fairies, they got started with fitting Sora in his new clothes. "Bibbity Bobbity Boo." They pointed their wands at him, and then he had his new clothes. They included a black hoodie with a blue jacket and red straps on his black shorts. Pretty similar to his last pair, only with the colors reversed and bigger. Then, "Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" The other three's jaw's dropped at the sight of Kairi. She had on a white hoodie, with a white skirt. A pink warrior-looking ribbon drifted across her chest, she had a pink jacket, and a black belt and shoes. Sora immediately thought, _Oh my God._ "K-Kairi, wow, you look AMAZING!"

"Thanks, Sora". She couldn't help but blush, Roxas and Namine also blushed, although they couldn't explain why. "Now" the fairies interrupted, "Sora and Kairi both have Drive Forms, where their skills double and they can wield two keyblades. But, in order for them to do this, Roxas and Namine, you both must conform back into their bodies. The clothes can only provide the drive form for a certain amount of time, though. So use your drives wisely." They all agreed and were back on the ship sooner than they thought, ready to set sail towards their first world.

Oh yeah, if you guys ever want to leave me suggestions, you should. I will probably use some of them.


	8. The Hidden Lock

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

"So, where to?" Sora asked.

"Hyuck", Goofy chimed in. "Well Sora, we could go to Radiant Garden and see how Leon and the others are doing."

"Yeah, let's do that." They sailed off towards Radiant Garden, but something wasn't right. Kairi could sense it. "Sora, can I talk to you alone." She wanted to discuss the feeling with him to see if it was normal to feel this way when visiting a world. However, that's not what Roxas and Namine thought. They smiled at each other and then smiled at their "others".

Kairi got aggravated, "Not for _that _guys, I just have to talk to him." They both laughed and said "Sure".

"C'mon Kairi, we will go to the back of the ship and you can tell me there. Donald, take over will ya?"

"Sure thing, Sora". Riku just laughed, _Wow, Sora's friends crack me up!_

They went to the back of the ship and Kairi told Sora about her feeling. "It's probably nothing, Kairi, I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, I'll be there to protect you the whole time. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

"I know, I just…Okay, I trust you." Sora smiled and made his way back to the drivers seat, pushing Donald out of the way. "OUCH! Sora! That hurt."

They all laughed, "Oops, sorry Donald."

"And give me my seat back Sora."

"What? Donald, I'm the driver."

"Ah phooey ya big palooka, you always crash the ship!"

"Hey! I'm the keyblade weilder!"

"Hmmph. Fine." He wiggled his feathery tailed butt all the way to the back of the ship. Riku thought that that whole seen was hilarious. Kairi still got the feeling that maybe they should turn back. She didn't know why. _There can't be anything wrong, because if there were, Namine would sense it too, because she is a witch. _

_I do sense it Kairi._

_Namine? You can hear my thoughts even when you are outside my body?_

Yes, and I can communicate with Roxas with my thoughts too. Bet you didn't know all of that huh?

_Well if you sense something wrong, shouldn't we tell them?_

No, this is something that we have to do Kairi, it's going to feel weird because there will be darkness in the worlds we visit, but this feeling is normal, once you get used to it, it will probably go away.

_But Sora said he never got this feeling._

Aw Sora's just trying to look brave. He gets this feeling all the time. Roxas tells me some of his thoughts.

_Okay, thanks Namine._

_Don't mention it._

The Highwind spun through the portal, and then they all fell onto hard concrete, in the middle of the marketplace in Radiant Garden. Leon and the others rushed up to meet them.

The group didn't suspect what Maleficent was planning. "Those stupid FOOLS!" she shouted at a mysterious man. "Calm down, Maleficent, all we have to do is find a way to distract the boy from his main goal-attaining the keyblades."

She had a simply marvelous idea: _The girl. If I can send someone to kidnap the girl, he will look for her, giving my soldiers plenty of time to begin the battle by sneaking up on the other side. _She knew the plan was genius, fool-proof. She addressed the mysterious man and asked him to kidnap Kairi. "Go and get her, then bring the girl to me, unharmed. I want to make a deal with her little boyfriend." The man automatically knew what she was thinking. "Genius", he said.

"I know."

Over-ecstatic Yuffie was happy to see them. "Hey guys, nothing much is going on here, but there is this mysterious lock that we found behind a bunch of boulders in the restoration site. We want to see what's in there, maybe it can give us some information on what exactly the chasers are."

"Aren't they beings who have souls and hearts, but no bodies?" a surprised Roxas asked. "That's what Master Yen Sid told us."

"And that's true Roxas, but we want to know where they came from and how they can be stopped." Leon shook his head and agreed. "Well alright then, let's see it." Sora said it with a serious tone, but Kairi knew what was really going on. She could tell he was anxious to see it. He had always been impatient, so she couldn't figure out why it took him so long to tell her he loved her. "Okay, guys and ladies, this way." Leon led them to the hidden lock. Sora pointed his keyblade up at it, but to no prevail. "Why doesn't it work?" Sora asked Leon.

"Hmm, maybe all three of the weilders have to use the keybla…what? Where's Kairi?


	9. Deal?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney, or any of its other affiliates.

Sora heard an all-too-familiar laugh, he turned around and to his horror, saw Maleficent dragging Kairi into a dark portal. "NOOO!" He ran after her, but he didn't get there in time. _Kairi is gone. She is gone because I didn't listen to her feeling. I promised to protect her, but I didn't. _He felt himself becoming faint, he could do nothing to get her back. He just fell onto the floor and started banging against the ground with his fists. "Sora, you know that can't help you, get up man." Roxas was sympathetic, he could feel the things that Sora felt, and he hated this feeling. _Namine, can you feel this? _

_Yeah, Roxas, I can. Comfort him, he is devastated._

_I couldn't imagine how I would feel if I lost you, Namine, probably much worse._

"Sora, c'mon man, we'll get her back. Your strong, and not only that, we have everyone else here with us to help."

"I can't do this Roxas. She is my strength. I need her. I promised to protect her and I failed. She trusted me and I failed her."

"Don't be so hard on yourself man, you tried to help her and you didn't know that Maleficent was planning to kidnap her." Leon didn't want to interrupt Roxas when he was trying to help Sora feel better, but he felt he had to intervene. "Okay, Sora, I know you're really upset right now, so how about we all go talk to Merlin and see how we can get her back unharmed." Sora wiped the tears from his eyes and agreed, "Okay, let's go."

Merlin was torn on what to do about the situation, he suspected that Maleficent had taken Kairi as a distraction from the battle coming, but he didn't know how to get her back unharmed without Sora making some kind of dark deal with Maleficent to get Kairi back. "Well", he began, "Leon, take them and show them to their rooms in the Castle, we will meet back here in the morning to discuss what we should do. I don't want any of you alone tonight, just in case Maleficent comes back for another hostage. Sora, Roxas, and Riku will share one room, Donald and Goofy will share another, and Namine can stay with Yuffie."

"Alright, let's go guys." Leon led them to their rooms, and then went to his own. Sora was so depressed he couldn't think straight. "I'm gonna go take a walk." He told them. Roxas wasn't sure it was a good idea, "I'll go with you." Riku responded "No, this will be good for him, it will give him a chance to think."

"Okay."

Sora didn't know what to do, he wanted to save her, he wanted to get her back, but even if he had the chance to get her back, he wouldn't know where to look. Just then he felt an arm on his shoulder. He turned around, "Maleficent!! Where is she! HUH?!, if you harmed her I will kill you you evil witch!"

"My, my boy, you're more stubborn than I thought."

She saw tears well up in his eyes. _I have the stubborn child right in the palm of my hand. _

"You miss her do you?"

"Yes, please Maleficent, tell me is she hurt?"

"No. But you will not see her again, unless you would be willing to make a deal with me."

"What deal?!" he screamed, knowing it could not be a good deal.

"I want your soul. You give me your soul, you can have her back."

Sora was devastated. _What am I gonna do, if I make the deal, I would be abandoning my whole purpose here, but if I don't, she may hurt Kairi._ "I can tell you need some time. Well, my cold dark dungeon isn't going anywhere, you let me know when you're ready to make the deal."

Sora returned to his room, uncertain of what to do. He wasn't really dwelling on it until Roxas was asleep, because if Roxas knew, he would try to talk him out of making the deal. The brunette was seriously thinking about taking it. Maleficent told him to go to the bailey and cast firaga into the sky if he wished to call her to make the deal. He made his way over there, though still uncertain about what to do. He brought out Oathkeeper, his keyblade that was in a way linked to her. He pointed it up at the sky, but then threw it down onto the ground and screamed in agony. _Why can't I have a normal life!!! _His mind was so troubled that it woke up Roxas, and he immediately rushed to find Sora, completely motionless. "SORA! What happened!"

"How do I choose Roxas?" Roxas all-of-a-sudden knew what Sora was talking about. He regretted saying it but he could only respond with "I don't know."

"Wait, Roxas! Maleficent doesn't know that you can communicate with me and Namine can communicate with Kairi, we have to get Namine!"

"Yeah, we could do that, but we don't know where her room is."

"She is staying with Yuffie, c'mon we gotta get her." The two found Namine and woke her up by tapping on the window, she looked outside at Roxas and she knew what the idea was. She went outside to the Bailey and looked out at the Castle beyond the Great Maw with the other two. She had said it may be difficult to communicate with Kairi since she might be far away. She concentrated as hard as she could. Nothing. "Roxas, do you think you can communicate with Kairi if you stand next to me? Maybe with both of us the mental signal would be loud enough for her to hear."

"Well I doubt it, but it's worth a try." They stood together and concentrated on the sky, while Sora just stood there hopefully. _Kairi, it's Roxas and Namine, if you can hear us, please tell us where you are. _


	10. Aurora's Castle

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Kairi woke up with a jolt, thought she wasn't sure what it was that woke her up. All she knew was that she was cold. Miserably cold. She heard something else-

_Kairi, it's Roxas and Namine, if you can hear us, please tell us where you are._

_No way. "_There is no way they could call me all the way from Hollow Bastion". She was too many worlds away. Still, she tried. _I can hear you! I'm in some kind of dungeon, it's not the one I remember in the World That Never Was, but its cold and dark. _She listened intensely for any sign that they had heard her. After a few minutes she knew they couldn't hear her. She was just too far away. Pete hadn't told her what world she was in, he was too busy soaking up the pride he was going to get from Maleficent for his "clever" place to stash her. She tried to figure out where she was, then, she could at least know when Sora was going to get there. She knew him for so long his decisions were too predictable. When Kairi looked out tiny, barred window, all she could see was forest-miles and miles of forest.

Roxas and Namine were surprised that they could hear her. "Sora!, She didn't say what world she was in, but she said she was in some cold dungeon."

"Okay", the brunette had a worried look on his face.

"Don't worry Sora, we'll get her back." They couldn't sleep, not until they found her. Sora just sat there, looking out at the Great Maw. Roxas and Namine watched him until dawn. The trio went to see Merlin to see if he had any idea where she would be. "Did she say anything other than it was cold and dark?" The old wizard inquired.

"Nope."

"Hmm, this puzzles me, well Namine, if you needed Roxas to communicate with her, she must be at least three worlds away from here. That's all I know."

"Okay, thanks."

Sora didn't know what to do. He didn't even know of any worlds that he had been to before that had a dungeon like that, besides Hollow Bastion, but that dungeon was destroyed when the gang started rebuilding the world. "Well," he went on, "she can't be in any worlds that I have been to before, or I would remember a dungeon like that. That narrows it down a bit."

Roxas and Namine looked at eachother, surprised that Sora actually talked to them, he hadn't opened his mouth the whole night before. "Well I guess that means that we will be going to those worlds first." Roxas asked.

"Right", for the first time since he had lost her, Namine saw a slight smirk on Sora's face.

After explaining the whole situation to Riku on the gummi ship, the map had finished uploading from Cid's computer. "Okay, so the worlds that are far from here and I haven't been to before are Aurora's Castle, and Atlantis. Castles usually have dungeons, let's go to Aurora's castle first." Sora knew there was finally hope. The gummi ship turned and sped towards their destination.

Namine was surprised by the size of the Castle. "Wow, this place is HUGE!" Roxas just laughed, "c'mon Nam, let's go see if the king and queen know anything about a dungeon." Sora shook his head and agreed. The king saw them walking towards his throne and demanded an explanation. "Who on Earth are you and why are you in my castle!"

"Father, this is Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I'm not sure who the other three are, but I know they are all here to help us. Sora is the one that saved me in Hollow Bastion two years ago."

"Ah, well then, nice to meet you young man, what is it that I can do for you?"

Sora began, "Sir, Maleficent kidna…" he was cut off.  
"MALEFICENT!" "Boy why do you speak her name? I banished her many years ago."

"You know of her?" Donald asked.

"Know of her? She kidnapped poor Aurora when she was sixteen and pricked her finger with a needle to make her die, luckily the prince slayed Maleficent when she turned into a dragon and broke the spell."

"Oh! That's what she did to my friend Kairi! See I defeated her when she was trying to destroy the worlds…"

"Yes Aurora told me all about you."

"Well, she wants to try again, and she knew she needed a way to distract me, so she took her, I need to know where your dungeon is."

"Boy our dungeon is empty. May I speak with you?" Sora nodded and followed him into another room. "Sora, is it?" Again he shook his head. "Well, Sora, do you love this girl?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"Alright I think I may know how to help." He handed Sora a new keyblade, called Needlesword. "May this new weapon be of great use to you on your way to find her. Be strong, boy."

Sora thanked him and said "I will."  
"Now, about the dungeon, there is no one being held in my dungeon, but when I banished Maleficent she made a tower where she now presides, I'm not sure if there is a dungeon in it, but if there is that is where your girlfriend will be. It's a long way there, threw the forest. Good luck." Sora blushed a little bit when the king said "Girlfriend", but immediately got control of his face when he realized he needed to be serious in order to find her. "Thank you Sir." He left the room and nodded for the rest of the soldiers of the light to follow him out of the castle, "Come on, I'll tell you what he told me on the way there." They went off towards the forest. It looked endless, dark, and cold.


	11. The First Chaser

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Kingdom Hearts.

The group made their way towards the tower they hoped to find Kairi in. The forest seemed to get darker with every step. Namine was starting to get frightened. Roxas sensed her fear and held her close to him. "Look, there's a cottage over there! I wonder if they can tell us anything." He noticed. Sora nodded his head towards the door as a sign that they should check it out. "You don't think she will be here, do you Sora?" Donald wondered. He replied, "No, but maybe there is something that the people in the cottage can tell us. They went in and were surprised by what they saw. "Well hello dears." It was Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the fairies that were in charge of Sora and Kairi's wardrobe. "Hey, we're looking for Kairi, have you seen her? The king told us she would be in some kind of tower but we can't find any." Riku asked. The fairies looked at eachother and shrugged. "Why don't you use your mind Namine?" Namine was so frightened of the forest that she forgot that she could do that. "Nice one Namine." Sora became anxious to find her. "Sorry", she blushed in embarrassment. _Kairi, where are you? _

_Namine? Is that you? How can you hear me?_

_I could hear you before, I just didn't answer because Sora was in a hurry to find you._

_O my god Sora! Is he alright?_

_He's fine, but he really needs to know where you are, can you tell me? _

_I don't know where I am, I'm in some high up place and when I look out the small window in here all I can see is dark forest. _

_That's where we are. Can you see a castle anywhere in the distance? _Kairi looked around. _No, nowhere. _

_Alright you must be pretty deep in the forest, but we're coming Kairi, hang on._

_Okay. _

Namine told Sora what Kairi had said. He was overjoyed to know that now they had some way to communicate with her. Sora said "Well, I guess we'd better get going."

"Now just hold on dear. We have a gift for you. Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" They shot their magic at Sora from their wands. "Now you have Heartless Form. You can sink into the ground the way the Heartless do, and sneak up on your enemies. But remember Roxas has to conform back into your body for you to be able to do this."

They all said "Thanks" and walked outside. Namine shrieked, "Heartless!" Sora held out his right hand and a flash of white light appeared, revealing the Needlesword, his new keyblade. They were just the little ones, so he didn't need Heartless Form for them. However, he knew they were going to get much bigger as their journey went on. Each of his endeavors were harder as they went along. Roxas drew his keyblade, too. He was in possession of the Ultima Weapon from Sora's last journey. That way when Sora was in a form, he would have his keyblade, plus the strongest keyblade from his previous journey. As Riku drew The Way to Dawn, his keyblade, the others drew theirs, except for Namine, who used her magic. The sound of metal clashing with flesh was heard all around, even in the distance where Kairi could hear it. She screamed as loud as she could, "SOOOOOOOOOORA!!!!!" He heard her. "KAIRI?!" Bash, Bash, he killed the last two heartless and sprinted through the forest to where she was as fast as he could. He arrived at the tower. He could see her, but he had to find his way through the tower up to her room.

They entered the castle and saw something they had never seen before. It was a dark shadow of a person holding the Holy Pumpkin, a key from the last adventure. They all realized what he was and shouted "Chaser!". A forcefield went up, blocking everyone from Sora and the Chaser. The chaser lept towards Sora and cut him across the chest, he got a high potion and poured it on the wound while blocking the chasers moves. _Roxas that's the last one I have. What do I do if he hits me like that again? _Roxas didn't know what to do, he had a high potion, but he couldn't give it to Sora through the force field. _Just fight, man, it's for her. _ Sora was overcome with anger, throwing his keyblade towards the chaser. It missed and he was cut again, this time across the shoulder. He couldn't swing the keyblade with as much power as he had before because of this new wound. Still he fought as hard as he could, but he didn't realize that the chasers were that hard to beat. He was getting tired, no, weak, he realized his health was running out. He put all of his strength into one final swing, and knocked out the chaser partially. The chaser fell to the ground and the forcefield came down. Sora fell back too, too weak to move. Roxas threw his potion into the air, and while the potion didn't do much for Sora's health, it allowed him to take a couple more strikes against the chaser, and finally, it disappeared. The Holy Pumpkin fell to the ground and Sora willed it back to King Mickey's Castle. He was still very weak, the potion hadn't helped too much, and Namine couldn't heal without Kairi. He pushed himself up the long flight of stairs and busted open the first door he could find.

"Kairi", he muttered as his last word before he fell to the ground, exhausted and now unconscious. She bent down on her knees and kissed his forehead, and he woke. When Namine and Kairi were together, healing Sora was no problem. "Good morning sleeping beauty.", she said to him.

"Kairi, are you hurt?"

"No Sora I'm fine. Are you okay?" The others in the group could sense the two needed some alone time.

"No, Kairi. I'm not okay. I failed you. I promised to protect you and…" He couldn't finish because she leaned in and kissed him. "Shh", she said, "You came back for me, that's all that matters. You did what you had to do, and you risked your life for me more than once. You could never fail me." His face was so red he thought it was on fire. _That was the first time she kissed me. Aren't I supposed to do that first? Oh well, it's Kairi, she does what she wants. _He pulled her into a tight embrace that went on for at least an hour.


	12. The Mysterious Book

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney

Roxas and Namine did the same. She yanked him into her and kissed him so passionately that he fell back on the ground and pulled her down with him. "You're so clumsy, Roxas." She laughed. Sora and Kairi came out of the dungeon. Riku didn't want to ruin the moment for the four of them, but he had to chime in. "Uh, guys? Don't you think we should go back to Radiant Garden now and unlock that hidden lock in the wall?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot all about that!" Sora hit his forehead with his hand. "Let's go."

The group went back towards the gummi ship when they were stopped short by Maleficent. "So, you fools thought you could outsmart me?! Did you really think that I did not know you would try to save her yourselves!? HAHAHA! Pathetic fools!!!! This is just all part of my BIGGER PLAN!!" She disappeared. Roxas hesitated. "What do you think the bigger plan is Sora?"

"I don't know but we have defeated her twice before I'm sure we can do it again." All of them laughed except for Riku. "Don't get cocky, Sora, you become weaker when you get cocky."

Donald frowned and said "Ah what do you know? You big palooka!" They kept on walking and got to the Highwind. 3…2…1… "BLAST OFF!" Sora shouted.

They arrived back at Merlin's house, and the whole gang was there waiting for them. Yuffie shouted "Ok guys, let's go see what's in that lock!" Yuffie always got excited for little things. Leon loved that about her. They all went to the hidden lock that they had found in the restoration site at Radiant Garden. Sora, Kairi, and Riku threw their right arms out, and a flash of white, pink, and blue engulfed their hands. The three keyblades came to be in their hands, and they held them up towards the lock. They heard a "click" sound, and it opened. Donald peered inside, and fell to the ground coughing as a bunch of dust came falling out of the hole in the wall. Sora reached inside as far as he could and finally grabbed on to something. "It's-It's a book." They all look surprised.

Kairi was the most surprised. "Just a book? What good does that do us?" Leon looked at it. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and he tossed it back to Sora. "You guys need to take this to King Mickey, now!" He and Yuffie ran off towards Merlin's house. "What was that all about?" Goofy inquired. "Well," Kairi began, " We will just have to go to King Mickey and see what's up." They all started walking towards the gummi ship. Sora was just staring at Kairi, admiring her. _What is wrong with me? If Riku would have said that just now I wouldn't have felt so weak in the knees. God, her voice. It's angelic, It's weakening. _He didn't notice that Roxas was staring at him, smirking. He forgot that Roxas can hear everything he said. _Oops._

_Haha it's alright, man. I feel the same way about Namine._

_Really? What does this to us._

_We're in love. _ Sora knew he loved her all along, but for some reason that statement was still shocking in a way. He shrugged it off and climbed into the pilot's seat in the gummi ship. "Everybody ready?" He asked. He made extra sure that Kairi had her seat belt on tight, and he asked her to sit in between Riku and Goofy, just to make sure Maleficent couldn't try anything. _Sora I really don't think Maleficent can take her while she is in the gummi ship. Or at Disney Castle._

_I'm not taking any chances, Roxas. I won't lose her again. I can't._

The group arrived in the gummi hangar and made their way up to the library, where Mickey usually was. Riku pushed open the door while Sora walked in holding the book carefully, it was old and dusty and coming apart and he didn't want to damage it. "Here, your Majesty. We found it in a hidden lock in Radiant Garden. Leon told us to give it to you right away." Sora handed Mickey the book. It was a light brown and it had no title, Sora didn't try to open it for fear of damaging it, though the King seemed to be able to open it with ease. "Oh dear. You better sit down, fellas."


	13. The Chosen Ones Before Us

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Sora looked surprised and scared at the same time. "Okay, your majesty. Should we be worried?"

"No", the king went on, "but this is a load."

They all watched King Mickey while he read the book, Sora sat next to Kairi, and wrapped his fingers around hers. They were both surprised at how well their hands fit together. Finally the king closed the book, took a seat, and began explaining the story. He took a deep breath, then went on:

"Sora, Kairi, Riku. There is something I should tell you now.

The worlds have always been in some sort of danger, and

You three are not the first keyblade wielders. This book talks

About the chosen ones before you. There has always been a

Keyblade, since the beginning of the battle between light, and dark.

This book explains about how this war began. There is definitely

A war coming, fellas. This war between light and darkness

Will be the longest and most gory battle there ever has been.

You will all be soldiers of the light, and the book, wishes you

To recruit more warriors of the light, that you will find in various worlds.

Sora, you will equip each of these new warriors with one of the keyblades.

Only by wishing them to have full possession of the keyblade, will

They be able to weild one.

We need these keyblades for this battle, because according to this book,

This battle is one of the prophecied battles, which occur very rarely.

This is why we need those keyblades back from those chasers.

Do you all understand?"

Sora was on the edge of his seat the whole time. Kairi was afraid now. "What do you mean it will be _gory_?", she asked.

"I mean that some of these warriors of light will be hurt, badly. That is where you and Namine come in."

Namine looked shocked. "How?"

"Namine, you and Kairi possess the power to heal, even when Sora cannot, because his strength is gone and he can't use magic. You will be responsible for doing whatever you can to keep these soldiers well."

They looked at eachother and agreed.

"Now, Sora, your weapon for this war will be the Ultima Weapon, the moogles will take the Ultima Weapon from the last two journeys and fashion them into just one weapon, making it twice as strong. Roxas, the moogles will fashion into one weapon each of the journey's Oblivions. You, then, will also have a strong weapon. The other keyblades, I need Sora to wish into the power of another soldier. You'd best make it to the other worlds and see if the residents would be willing to help you. Remember, I have Holy Pumpkin here, so when you find your first warrior, wish it into his power and he shall have it. Do this until all keyblades are recovered and all keyblades have a weilder."

"Yes, your majesty!" They all shouted.

As they made their way back to the gummi ship, Sora couldn't help but notice that Kairi was upset. "Kairi, is something wrong?"

"No, it's just I'm worried, Sora."

"About?"

"You getting hurt."

Sora felt a tear slide down his cheek, he quickly wiped it away. "Kairi, you know I love you. I will always be by your side."

Kairi also started tearing. Sora came up and hugged her, and he held on to her until she stopped crying. "Everything will be fine. I will be fine. I promise." Kairi couldn't stop crying. She reminded him that the last time he promised to come back to her he didn't.

"Kairi, I wanted to come back to you, more than anything. I couldn't, my memories were gone and I was sleeping, but the first thing I did when I awoke was search for you and Riku."

"I know. But I can't stand being away from you for that long. I love you."

"Hey, I love you too. But I'm not goin anywhere."

Riku coughed. "Are you guys done yet? The Pride Lands are waiting.

Sora looked back and said "Yeah, sorry." He looked back at her and asked if she was going to be okay.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." They made their way back to the ship and headed off towards the Pride Lands.


	14. The Pride Lands

Disclaimer: I once again, do not own Disney or Kingdom Hearts.

O right and you guys should leave me reviews on what worlds you wanna see.

Sora woke up and looked around, he tried to stand up but then realized that he was shorter than before. He looked down and "Oh, that's why." He was a lion. This was the Pride Lands. He was in the Oasis, but he had lost the others, at least he thought he did until he saw the most beautiful lioness making his way towards her. She looked like Nala in a way, but with more strawberry-blonde colored fur instead of blonde. Her eyelashes were long, and he could see her warrior ribbon still draped across her chest. "SORA!"

They two lions ran up to eachother and then realized that they couldn't hug each other as lions. They both just sat down, looking embarrassed. "Sora, where is everyone else?"

"We must have got separated, it's happened before. It's dark now though, so we should probably sleep before attempting to make our way during the jungle."

"Okay, where?"

"Uh, we could sleep next to the waterhole under the palm tree."  
"Okay. Good night, Sora."

"Goodnight Kairi." Kairi lay down and went to sleep. _Wow, she must be tired. _He thought. He wasn't really tired yet, so he just went to the cliff and looked at the horizon for awhile, until he heard some sounds behind him. He turned around and noticed that the beautiful sounds were whimpers, from Kairi. She was shivering. He didn't want her to be cold. He made his way over there and put some branches on top of her, then cuddled up next to her and fell fast asleep.

Sora woke up to a sound. It was Riku, a silver lion with white hair standing right above the two. "Good morning Riku. What's up?" Just then Kairi woke up and saw Sora right next to her. "Morning Sora. Why are there branches over me?"

"Before I went to sleep, I noticed you shivering, so I put some branches over you and then slept next to you." Kairi just said "Oh". But on the inside she was overjoyed. _He is so nice to me. Such a gentleman and such a sweetheart. And he's mine. _She didn't notice that she was smiling so widely. Roxas and Namine were standing right behind Riku, along with a bird and a turtle. "What are you guys supposed to be?"

Donald said "Well obviously, I am a bird and Goofy is a tu-" She cut him off. "I know what you are, but why aren't you lions?" No one had really thought about that question before. "Well Gawrsh Kairi, we really don't know." Everyone laughed, including Donald. Then they heard a voice behind them. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! It's so nice to see you all again!" It was Simba. "Hey Simba", Sora went on, " we came to ask a favor of you."

"Well alright, what is it?" Sora explained the whole story to him. "I guess I could do that. I want to help you guys because you have helped me and Nala before. And Kiara."

Kairi looked surprised. "Kiara?"

"Yes, she is my daughter, and the heir to the Pride Lands."

" I'm Kairi."  
"Well it's nice to meet you Kairi." Sora introduced the rest of the group. "Well, welcome to my world." They all went back to Pride Rock and met Nala and Kiara. When Sora saw Kiara, she had a mischievous look on her face. Simba knew what it was and whispered into Sora's ear. Sora then turned to Kiara and said "Do it." Kiara lept towards Donald, and Donald shrieked and tried to fly away to get away from her. Everyone laughed hysterically. Simba smiled and remember when he tried pouncing on Zasu. Nala said "Kiara, that's enough, let's go back inside." The two went back inside the lion's den, and Simba took the others up to the summit. "Before I help you guys in your battle, do you think you could help us with something?" Sora looked at him.

"You name it."

"Alright, well there is this shadow-looking thing running around somewhere in the valley. He is holding a key that looks similar to yours, and we can't fight him, I think maybe only your keyblade can." Sora knew exactly what he was talking about. "That's a chaser, and of course we'll help."

"Great, I think the last anyone saw of him he was in the gorge. Let me know when you defeat him and I will gladly join your team."

"Yes, your majesty." They went off looking for the chaser, and finally found him. He was holding the Kingdom Key. "Hold it right there!" Riku shouted. He ran at the chaser with his keyblade, the others soon followed, and the sound of metal clashing with flesh could be heard from where Simba was.


	15. Twilight Town

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

The chaser fought back against the seven of them, but he slowly faded away much faster than the one in Aurora's world, because he was fighting everyone, not just Sora. Soon after they started fighting, Sleeping Lion fell to the ground, and Sora wished it into the possession of King Simba. They went back to Pride Rock and told Simba the chaser was gone. "Thank you all, I suppose it is my duty to help you now. What shall I do?"

"King Mickey of Disney Castle will send you a message telling you of when the war is to start."

"Okay, be careful on the rest of your journey Sora. And the rest of you."

"We will."

It was now dusk, and Sora knew exactly where he wanted to go next. There was no battles in this world, but it was a great place to train and upgrade weapons and armor: Twilight Town. He could also see Hayner, Pence, and Olette. _Sweet! Thank you Sora! I really miss them._ Sora knew Roxas was going to be excited. He didn't tell anyone else where they were going, they would just have to find out.

They all boarded the gummi ship, and Sora and Roxas were talking to each other while everyone else was asleep. "Sora, what made you decide to go back to Twilight Town?"

"Well, you have been a great friend, I think you should be able to see your old friends. Also, the moogles shop is there, and Kairi's birthday is in three days, I want to make her something really special with all the items I found.

"Wow, that's really nice. You really like her don't you Sora?"

"No, I love her."

"Wow, man." "That's awesome."

"Yeah it really is."

"So what do you think you are going to make her?"

"I don't know. I was thinking either jewelry or some type of ribbon."

"I think you should make her a keychain."

"A keychain?"

"Yeah, so she could have a new keyblade."

"Wow, Roxas. I think that would mean a lot to her. I will do that. That's a great idea."

"Of course it is, I thought of it." They both started laughing. Kairi woke up. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

"Oh nothing," Roxas replied. Kairi fell back asleep and sooner than they thought, the group landed in Twilight Town. After making sure everyone was there, Sora stated, "Okay, first stop, the usual spot." Roxas was overjoyed. Sora pulled him to the side. "Hey man I'm gonna see about that keychain, but how am I gonna get away from Kairi?"

"I don't know, just sneak out and go now, if Kairi asks I'll tell her you went to make sure everything was okay in the sandlot or something."

"Thanks Roxas."

"No problem." Sora ran off towards Market Street to make the keychain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group finally got to the usual spot. "Roxas! Kairi!" Hayner, Pence, and Olette shouted. "Hey guys!" Roxas ran up to hug his old best friend. "Man I missed you guys so much." He then went on to hug the other two. "Guys, this is Riku, Sora's friend, Namine, my girlfriend, Kairi you already know, Sora's girlfriend, Donald, and Goofy, but I think you know them too. Kairi secretly blushed when Roxas introduced her as "Sora's girlfriend." She knew she was, she just loved hearing it.

"Hey Punk." Sora turned around to see Seifer. "What do you want?"

"Nothin, just wanted to see what is new with the strongest guy in Twilight Town."

"Well I'm a little busy right now so that will have to wait." Sora didn't like how Seifer and his gang treated him the last time he was there. He also didn't like the fact that Seifer and his gang treated Roxas and his friends badly. "Look I'm a little busy I got to go." Seifer just rolled his eyes. "See ya around, loser." Sora didn't care about Seifer calling him a loser, he just was focusing on the look on Kairi's face when he gave her the keychain. Then a thought crossed his head. _Oh no. This is her sweet sixteen. This is the biggest birthday for a teenage girl, and she doesn't get a sweet sixteen. She gets to fight crime. This isn't fair. What should I do? _Sora was completely lost about what to do with that. He never had a sweet sixteen for his birthday a few months ago, but it was different for girls. _Just focus on the keychain, we will figure something out. _ Sora knew Roxas was right. He loved her, he would find something to do. Whatever it was, it had to be romantic and also fun. He got to the moogles' shop and told him what he wanted to make Kairi for her birthday. "Well it looks like you've got all of the ingredients to make it, kupo."

"Okay, I want it to be red, and I want it to be in the shape of a star, but I want a heart in the middle of the star that says "Kairi" okay?"

"Okay, here you go, kupo." Sora looked at the keychain. _Wow, it's perfect. _


	16. Planning the Party

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts OMG I hate writing these disclaimers and I also don't own Disney. Okie Dokie?

Sora couldn't believe how great the keychain looked. _I can't wait for Kairi to see this. _

_Is it nice?_

Yeah, I'll show it to you when we start planning what to do with Kairi's sweet sixteen. Do you have any ideas yet Roxas?

_Something big, but I don't know what._

_We will figure it out, I may have something. Has she noticed I was gone?_

_Yeah, I just told her you went to go get some potions._

_Okay thanks. Where are you guys now?_

_We are still with Hayner Pence and Olette. _

Okay I'll be there in five minutes.

Sora ran up to the usual spot, and sat down next to Roxas. "I have to tell you my idea. But how are we gonna get away from Kairi with everyone else?"

"I don't know man. Maybe I can get Olette to go 'show her something' haha."

"That would be awesome."

"When do you want to plan it?"

"We could plan it later on tonight, after she falls asleep, then Olette can hear the plan too. Kairi will want her there."

"Who else will she want there?"

"Well, probably everyone from our island and the worlds that we visited already."

"How are we gonna get everyone to the place we hold the party at?"

"I don't know. Maybe the gummi ship?"

"It can barely hold the seven of us."

"So you guys can stay here and I can go get everyone else." Kairi approached them, "What are you guys talking about?"

The two looked at her and said "Nothing." Kairi knew Sora was up to something. But she had no idea what. She had known him for so long, she knew when he was trying to be sneaky. _Oh well. I will find out sooner or later. _Sora looked at Roxas, it was dark outside. "Her birthday is the day after tomorrow. It has to be perfect, and I think I know the perfect place."

"What place?"

"Before I tell you I want to make sure I actually get it. I'm gonna go call everyone and see if they can make it. And I'm gonna call the place. As soon as Kairi falls asleep." The group headed towards the mansion in Twilight Town, where everyone had their own assigned room to stay in for a few days to rest. Sora's room was right next to Roxas', so it made it easy to plan the party. Riku's room was upstairs, along with Donald and Goofy's room. Kairi and Namine were also downstairs but on the other side of the mansion. Sora snuck into Roxas's room to plan the party. "Everyone has to be there. I want her to be the center of attention at this party. This is the only day that she will be turning sixteen. It has to be perfect, something that she can remember for the rest of her life."

"Okay I hear you, where's it gonna be?"  
"Well I'm gonna find out right now. Hang on." Sora looked at his watch: 8:30. It wasn't too late to start calling everyone, most of his friends stayed up practically till twelve anyway. He knew who he was calling first.

"Hello?"

"Belle?"

"Yeah, who is this?"

"This is Sora."

"Oh Sora! How are you?"

"I'm great thanks, listen, is the Beast there? I kind of need to ask him something."

"Yeah, I'll go get him, but there is something you should know."  
"Okay…"

"The beast isn't a beast anymore, we fell in love before the last rose petal fell, his servants are back to their human forms and he is a prince again."

"Wow. That's so great!"

"It really is, okay, I'll go get him." Sora told Roxas the beast's castle story in a nutshell while he waited. "Hello, Sora?"

"Hey Beast!"

"You can call me William now."

"Okay. Prince William, I have a proposition for you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"You know Kairi, right?"

"Yeah, that's the girl that you were trying to save during your last two journeys right?"

"Yeah. Well things kind of changed and now she is my girlfriend." He blushed. "I want to throw her a sweet sixteen party. It has to be perfect, something that she can remember forever, and I was wondering if I could use your castle as the place to do it."

"Well that's lovely. I don't see why not. Am I invited?"

"Haha, of course Bea- I mean Prince William!"

"Alright then when will it be?"  
"The day after tomorrow."

"Wow, that fast? How are you going to decorate it?"

"Don't worry about that part, we will take care of that. Can we come there tomorrow to set up?"

"Sure, it will be nice to see you all again."  
"Okay, thanks William."  
"Don't mention it. I'll go tell Belle. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."


	17. The Perfect Dress

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except this computer alright?

"Okay, the party will be in this castle that I went to last journey alright? It's perfect. It has two winding staircases, a room for each of the party guests, Kairi gets the master suite, a HUGE ballroom where everyone can dance, and a romantic garden."

"Wow man good thinking. She will love it. Who are you gonna call now?"

"Our friends from the island." He picked up the phone again and dialed Wakka.

"Hello who is this, ya?"

"It's Sora."

"Sora! So happy to hear from you mon. How are things?"

"Things are great, you know Kairi is turning sixteen the day after tomorrow right?"

"Yeah."  
"Well I decided to throw her a huge party at a beautiful castle. I know she would like you, Tidus, and Selphie to be there."

"Oh definitely, I'll tell them. How are we going to get there?"

"Be at the island tomorrow afternoon at around two, I'll pick you guys up, you will be gone for the whole weekend though, okay?"

"Sure mon see you then." Wakka hung up the phone. "Well that takes care of everyone on the island." For the next hour, Sora had called everyone and Roxas had taken down names of everyone coming: Wakka, Selphie, Tidus, Cloud, Merlin, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Namine, Sora, Roxas, Riku, Hayner, Pence, Olette, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Chip, Dale, Donald, Goofy, Belle, Prince William, Princess Aurora, King George(King of Aurora's castle), Queen Aurora(Queen of Aurora's Castle), Merryweather, Flora, Fauna, and Yen Sid. "This is going to be awesome. She is gonna love it!" Sora couldn't wait to start gathering everyone up and decorating the castle, but what was he going to do to get Kairi out of the way? _What am I supposed to do to get Kairi out of the way man? _

_I'll channel Nam and tell her the plans, then maybe she and Kairi can go do something._

_Like what?_

_I don't know. What do girls do?_

_Well Nam and Kai aren't normal girls Roxas. _

_Okay well maybe they can go to market street and go shopping or something._

_That might work. _Roxas explained everything to Namine and they ended up planning to go shopping on Market Street the next day. Everyone went to sleep and woke up the next morning. "I wonder what the guys are doing today."

"I don't know, probably some stupid guy stuff like punching eachother" Kairi started laughing. "You all ready to go, Kai?"

"Yep, hey I have a question."

"What's up?"

"My birthday is tomorrow, do you think maybe Sora forgot? He hasn't said anything about it." Namine had to work hard to hide the smile on her face, because she knew what was going on. "I don't know Kairi, but I don't think he did, cuz he loves you."

"Okay, well we will find out." The girls went off to market street. Sora left to the tower in twilight town to see the fairies. "Flora, Fauna, Merryweather?"

"Yes dear?"

"You know about Kairi's party right?"

"Of course dear."

"Well do you think you guys could make a dress for her? It has to be comfortable, but it has to make her feel as beautiful and overwhelming as she really is."

"That's so sweet dear. Of course we can. Girls! Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" Sora saw the colors from their wands form the perfect dress. It was red and long, it had rhinestones all over the top of it, strapless, and looked like it conformed to the shape of her body perfectly. "Well, dear?"

"It's great. Thanks so much, and we will see you tomorrow at Prince Williams castle around eightish?"

"Of course dear. Looking forward to it." Sora and Roxas left the tower. "Where to next?" Roxas inquired. "I have to get a cake. But where from?"

"You could try Disney Castle, there are plenty of royal women there, they could probably make a good cake."

"Good idea. Now what about the streamers?"

"There is a ton of party stuff in Christmas Town, remember?"

"Yeah! We could get that there!" The two went off to Disney Castle first, to get the cake. 


	18. The Decorations

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Kingdom Hearts or all that other crap.

The two got to Disney castle around 9am. They went to see Dutchess Daisy and Queen Minnie. "Hey, can you guys do us a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well you know that Kairi's birthday party is tomorrow, can you guys make a really big, elegant cake?"

"We sure can. What kind?"

"She loves chocolate, can you make it chocolate with vanilla frosting?"

"Sure we can."

"And could you maybe make little roses around it too?"

"Yes we can. Anything else?"

"No, but thanks, I really appreciate it. Can you bring it tomorrow when you get to the castle?"

"Yes dear."

"Okay thankyou." They started walking towards the gummi ship. "Wow, all we have left are the streamers." Sora said. "Wait," Roxas began, "What about music?"

"Already taken care of. Wakka is a DJ, he will be bringing his turntables and he will set them up on the balcony above the ballroom."

"Wow Sora you have figured everything out."

"Yeah, with your help."  
"I told you everything would come together."

"You were right Roxas." By this time they had landed in Halloween Town. "Okay, Sora. Point the way to Christmas Town." Sora nodded and headed off towards the Christmas Tree in the Hinterlands. They dove down the tree and when Roxas opened his eyes, white. Pure white. "Are we here?"

"No, it is just a clone of Christmas Town." Sora laughed.

"Hey shut up!" They both laughed some more. "Okay, let's go to the alley, there are plenty of supplies there."

"Don't we need Santa's permission first?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Sora went in to Santa's workshop and explained the plan to Santa. "Well of course that would be fine my boys. It is very nice of you to do this for her Sora."

"Thanks. I just love to see her happy."

"Alright, take anything you need. And give her this Teddy Bear from Santa." Santa handed Sora a brown teddy bear, when you pushed its belly it sang "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, Santa. I know she will love it." Sora and Roxas went into the alley and found everything they needed for the party. Then they went to the castle to store everything in the secret passageway while they greeted the Prince, and Belle, and the servants. "This is so nice of you to let us use this for her party, thanks again."

"You forget that I have a warm heart now Sora, really, it's no trouble at all. I'm glad to do it." They left the castle and next headed back to Destiny Islands to pick everyone up. Once Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka got into the gummi ship, they headed back to the castle and showed them to their rooms, since the party wasn't until the next day, and they were staying there for two nights. By nighttime everyone had arrived in their rooms at the castle except for Riku, Namine, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Sora. They couldn't until after the party, or else Kairi would know what was going on. Everyone had managed to sneak away from Kairi at some point during the day and buy their gifts for her though. The seven of them were going to stay in the rooms in the mansion one more night. Sora walked Kairi back to her room, even though it wasn't that far from his. Once they got there, Kairi looked a little sad. She didn't know if Sora remembered her birthday. He wasn't acting any differently, that she knew of, or maybe he had just gotten slyer. "Kairi, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Kairi didn't want Sora to know that he had forgotten her birthday, and she also didn't want him to see her cry, so she lied.

"Are you sure, Kai? Cuz you look sad."

"No Sora, I'm fine. I'm just a really tired." He nodded his head and opened her door for her. "Good night Kai."


	19. The Big Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Kairi woke up to Namine staring at her. "O my God Namine what are you doing?!"

"Good morning birthday girl!"

"Thanks, you remembered?"

"Yeah, everyone did."

"I don't think Sora did."

"You don't know that yet. Anyway, I was thinking we go sightseeing at sunset station today."

"Okay that seems like fun. Who is going?"

"Well how about we just go?"

"What about Sora and the guys?"

"Ah screw the guys they can see you later. This is your sweet sixteen, it needs to be a girl's day."

"All right." Kairi understood, but she still wanted Sora there. She had barely seen him the whole time they were in Twilight Town. She just shrugged and the two girls walked towards Central Station for their day of sightseeing.

Sora, along with all of the other party guests, were setting up the party. Yuffie, Aerith, Selphie, and the Fairies were in charge of the decorations. Queen Minnie, Dutchess Daisy, Queen Aurora, and Princess Aurora, were in charge of flowers. Sora wanted them all around the ballroom. Orchids, Kairi's favorite flower. Wakka, Riku, and Tidus were in charge of setting up the turntables and selecting the music. The servants were cleaning the dancefloor, so it looked shiny and new. Belle and the Beast were setting candles up in the garden, but not lit yet, because Sora didn't want them to die out before he and Kairi got to go out there. Leon, Cloud, Cid, and Roxas were getting the presents from everyone and setting them together on a table in the lobby of the castle. Donald and Goofy were with Sora, they were putting up two more tables, one for the cake to sit on, and one for the food to sit on. Around seven o'clock, everything was ready, so all the guests went up to their rooms and changed into either skirts or dresses, and the guys dressed up in a nice white shirt with slacks. Except Sora, he was in a full tuxedo, he wanted to look perfect for her, because she was perfect.

Kairi and Namine had just gotten back to the gummi ship. "Well that was fun, I just wish Sora would have been there to see it." Namine looked sad because Kairi thought that Sora had forgotten her birthday. "Kairi, I'm gonna blindfold you, okay?" Kairi had no clue what was going on, but then she started to catch on. "Is Sora throwing a surprise party for me?" Namine just ignored her and put the blindfold on.

Sora was at the front of the lobby waiting for Namine and Kairi to get there. He was getting anxious, when finally he saw the door open, and Namine walked through it with Kairi behind her, blindfolded. Namine removed the blindfold and…

Kairi opened her eyes after Namine removed the blindfold and started tearing up. The whole place was beautiful. Everyone was dressed nice, and then, she saw _him. _Sora was dressed up in a tuxedo, wearing her favorite cologne. She ran into his arms, crying. "Oh Sora thank you so much! This is so perfect!" Sora just held her and said "Your welcome, now there is a very elegant dress waiting for you in your room upstairs. Flora will show you where your room is. That is your sweet sixteen dress." Kairi gave Sora one quick peck on the lips before hurrying up to her room to put on the dress. Once she got up there, Kairi couldn't believe what she saw. She had never seen a dress more beautiful, and this one fit her figure perfectly. It was the _perfect _dress. She slipped it on and put on her makeup and perfume, Sora's favorite. She opened the door from her room and entered one of the staircases. The music started playing softly. Everyone stopped chatting or whatever they were doing and looked at Kairi as she walked down the stairs. Sora was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.


	20. Riku and Aerith?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Sora was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs as she made her way down. _She looks gorgeous, I can't believe that she loves me! Of all people! I am the luckiest guy in the world. _He was smiling very widely, and his heart kept skipping beats. Just looking at her as she got to the bottom of the stairs and was walking into his arms was too much for him to take. But then he smelled her. She was wearing his absolute favorite perfume on her. And he didn't know if he could stand up much longer. He felt weak in the knees. Then a voice came on in the speaker. It was Wakka's. "This song is for Sora and Kairi only. Everyone else please clear the dance floor." Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" began to play. Sora put his arms around his angel, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her hands were rested behind his neck. He couldn't believe how intoxicating she was. Everything about her, her smile, her hair, her body, her smell, even her touch, made him feel weak. They began to slow dance while everyone else just watched.

Sora and Kairi wanted that song to last forever, but it was over. Everyone else was now on the dance floor. A fast song came on, and Sora asked Kairi, "Do you want to dance, Princess?"

"Sora, you don't have to call me princess, just call me Kairi, and sure, let's dance." They both danced non stop for the next five fast songs, then it was time to eat. Donald got food all over his face. "Wow, Donald. Can't keep it in your mouth?" Sora laughed. Donald just "hmphed" and walked away to the other side of the table. It didn't seem like very long when it was time to cut the cake. "MM, Sora it's delicious! Who made it?"

"The Queen and the Dutchess." Kairi walked over to them and started talking to them about how great it was, and thanking them. Then she and Sora split up to go mingle with the other party guests. Riku spotted Roxas and Namine making out in the corner of the ballroom. _Ugh I can't take this!_ He thought, and he walked outside into the courtyard to be alone in his thoughts. _What is wrong with me? Everyone has someone to love except for me! Sora has Kairi, Roxas has Namine, the King has the Queen, Leon has Yuffie, Cloud has Tifa, and_… He spotted Aerith walking towards him. "What's wrong, Riku?"

"Nothing really." She just nodded. "So are you having fun?"

"In a way." Aerith could almost tell what he was upset about, but she wasn't sure. "Are you feeling lonely because everyone has someone and you don't?"

"Uh huh. How did you know?"

"Just by the way you look."

"Oh. So what are you doing out here?"

"I was feeling kinda down too."

"Why?"

"I don't really know, now that I think of it, I think it's cuz I feel lonely too." Riku smiled at her. _Finally, someone who understands me._ Aerith just smiled at Riku. Both were now pretty uncomfortable. "Well, maybe I should be going back inside." Aerith said, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. Riku nodded and thought to himself, _Does she like me? I never really thought of her like that but now that I do, she is very pretty. I wonder if she likes me. _Riku finally had a little hope in the romantic aspect of his life. He walked back inside to find Aerith. She was standing in a corner. He approached her and asked "Would you like to dance, Aerith?" She was overjoyed. "Definitely." He took her by the arm and they made their way towards the dance floor.


	21. The Most Romantic Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Oh right and some ppl said RikuxAerith was a weird pairing, and it is but there was no one else to put him with lol. Just go with it.

Aerith looked into the silver-haired-boy's eyes. _So deep._ She thought. _Why would he just ask me to dance out of nowhere like that? Does he want to be with me? _She was confused. She didn't know if Riku did want to be with her, or if he just felt sorry for her because she had no one to dance with. She just decided she would go with it, and whatever happens, happens. It wasn't long though, before the music stopped and Wakka announced that it was time for cake and presents. It WAS late. Ten-thirty to be exact. **(A/N: Yes I know that's not late, but let's just say that it is okay?) **

Kairi ran over and sat down at the table next to Sora, while everyone gathered around the table to watch her open her gifts. Sora couldn't stop staring at her. She was very mature, but something about cake-and-presents time brought out the child in her. He didn't mind though, he loved every unique thing about her. "Alright, the first one is from Yuffie." It was a shuriken star, the kind that Yuffie always fought with. "Now you can be a junior ninja, Kairi." Kairi laughed. "Thanks Yuffie." The next one was from Donald. It was a magic spell. "I'll teach you any kind of magic you want, Kairi."

"Awesome! Can you give me the power to heal?"

"Sure can!" Donald showed Kairi how to heal real quick, before she went on to open more gifts. "Okay, this next one is from King Mickey." It was a journal for her to write her experiences in. "Thank you so much King Mickey." She opened one from Namine next. It was a pure white dress, the kind that Namine wore. "Nam, it's beautiful thanks."

"Your welcome." She went on to open more gifts while the other party guests were stuffing their mouths with cake. She opened Sora's last. "Oh my god. Sora! I love it! How did you get an idea to make this?"

"I just kinda thought it up, Roxas helped some too."

"It's perfect, thanks Sora." She kissed him in front of everyone at the party and after many "oohs" and "aws", everyone decided it was time to turn in for the night.

Sora didn't want to go to sleep yet, however, he took Kairi out into the romantic garden. She hadn't seen it at all before that night, so she was amazed at what she saw. "Sora! My favorite flowers are covering this garden it's so beautiful!"

"A beautiful garden for a beautiful lady." Kairi blushed. She had never been referred to as "lady" by Sora before. Each time he thought of something new to call her, she turned cherry red. "Kairi, do you want to sit with me?" Sora motioned over to a bench that overlooked the country. She sat next to him and whispered into his ear "I love you Sora." He looked at her and said, "I love you too, more than you will ever know." He leaned in to kiss her and she gladly took the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and held onto her for around ten minutes, then finally she said "I think we should go to sleep now." Sora nodded in agreement. "I'll walk you to your room." He took her hand and walked her up the stairs and down the hall towards her room. _God, he smells so good. And he looks so good, and OMG I just love him. _Kairi was intoxicated by Sora, she didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted him to hold her in his arms for hours. She knew she couldn't though. She had to go to sleep. They finally arrived at Belle's room. Belle had let the birthday girl stay in her room for that night. She opened the door, kissed him once last time, and went inside. As she changed into her pajamas she kept reliving that moment when she was walking downstairs in that beautiful dress, Sora waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. _This was the best night I have ever had._

_You are so smitten._

_Smitten, Nam?_

_Yeah, smitten. You know, in love, blah blah blah._

_So are you._

_True. But I have to have something to pick on you about. What else is your nobody for?_

_Namine get out of my head._

_Ooh someone is cranky. Haha. I'm just messin with ya, good night._

_Good night._

Sora walked very slowly towards his room. He didn't want to go back. _I wish I could relive this night over and over again. I still can't believe she loves me. I am truly the luckiest guy in the world. _

_You're whipped._

_Knock it off, Roxas!_

What dude, you are! Nothing wrong with it though, I am too. Namine might as well put a collar on me and put me on a leash. Sora laughed. Anyway, I'm goin to bed so I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Alright man.


	22. Sora's Joke

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Sora couldn't sleep. He kept replaying Kairi walking down the stairs, looking so beautiful. _Ah I don't want to go to sleep. I want to be with her. I wonder if she is sleeping._ Sora yawned but even though he was tired, he missed her. _I can't believe I miss her this much, she is just in the other wing of the castle, what's wrong with me? _

_I say you go talk to her._

_Roxas what are you still doing up?_

_I couldn't sleep either._

_So what did you do about it?_

I'm just out here in the garden. I was going to go talk to Namine, but she was sleeping. Kairi might not be though.

_Isn't that a little weird to just go talk to her at one in the morning?_

Well yeah.

_Thanks Roxas I think I'm just gonna take a sleeping pill or something._

_Okay._ Sora layed his head down on the pillow. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he woke up the next morning at nine feeling rested. He got up and jumped in the shower, before getting dressed back into his regular clothes from the fairies. He made sure he smelt good for Kairi, and he wore her favorite scent. He did his hair the way he always does, slipped on his shoes, brushed his teeth, and walked outside into the garden.

Sora walked into the garden he and Kairi were in last night, to find that Roxas had fallen asleep there. Kairi walked out and Sora shushed her. "Shh. Let's have some fun." Kairi smiled and knew exactly what he was talking about. He ran towards Riku's room and got his shaving cream. He ran back down and handed the shaving cream to Kairi. "Do you want to do the honors?"

"You bet!" Kairi smeared the shaving cream all over Roxas' face. "Wow Kai, nice work." She just laughed. She turned around and saw Namine walking out towards the garden. She shrieked and pulled Sora into the bushes. "Kairi, ow! What are you doing?" She put her hand over his mouth and pointed towards Namine, who now just saw Roxas. "Oh. This should be good." Namine had no clue what was going on so she yelled "ROXAS!", and he woke up. "Oh hey Nam." He got up and leaned in to kiss her but she backed off. "What's wrong Namine?"

"What's wrong? You look like my dad that's what's wrong!" Roxas was confused so he looked into the window. "Oh I bet I know who did this!" "SORA!" Sora and Kairi jumped out of the bushes laughing. "Oh don't think I won't get you back Sora!" He turned to Namine. "I'm gonna go clean up. I'll meet you back down in the lobby in thirty minutes?"  
"Sure, oh and don't forget to comb out your beard and mustache dad." The three of them laughed. "Haha very funny" Roxas remarked. Riku spotted Roxas walking up the stairs. "Whoa hi there Santa Claus!"

"Ugh." Riku walked into the garden. "Hey did you guys see Roxas?" Kairi laughed. "Yep that was my work."

"Really? Nice."

"That's what I told her." Sora said while laughing. "So Sora," Namine asked, "What world do you think we are going to next?"

"You know I never really know."

"Okay, well then what world do you WANT to go to next?"

"Hm. Well I guess Port Royal. That was fun. Maybe this time I will even get to dress like a pirate!" Kairi smiled. "I would like to see you dressed like a pirate." _Whoa why did I just say that? Where did that come from? _Sora blushed and said "Well you probably won't look so bad yourself." Namine looked uncomfortable. "Okay well I'm gonna go find Ro-oh." Roxas walked out before she could finish. "Well you clean up nicely. I thought you weren't gonna be back for thirty minutes."

"Yeah well it came off pretty well. And Man o Man Riku's aftershave smells good!" Sora nodded in agreement. "I keep asking him where he got it but he won't let up." Namine could smell the aftershave from where she was standing. She tilted her head, motioning for Roxas to come back inside. He followed her. "So Roxas do you still want that kiss?" Roxas anxiously nodded his head. She leaned in and put her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist and they kissed. Kairi and Sora were looking in through the window. "Aw isn't that nice?" Sora nodded. "Uh huh."

They had totally forgotten that Riku was there. "Uh Sora, don't you think we should be getting back to Disney Castle?"

"Oh yeah you're probably right. Hey Kairi you wanna come with me to get Donald and Goofy?"

"Sure." They walked up the stairs into the hall and found that Donald was still sleeping. Sora had a mischievious look on his face. "Wow Sora you're getting into all kinds of trouble today."

"Hehe. Donald hates when I stare at him while he is sleeping." Sora went right up to Donald's face and opened his eyes as wide as he could. It took only a couple seconds for Donald to wake up screaming and hitting Sora. "Ow Donald stop that hurts!"

"Well you know I hate that have you not learned your lesson?" Kairi just shook her head. She always had a rough time trying to understand what Donald says. Goofy walked into the room and started laughing. "Hyuck! Sora did you do it again?"

"Yep sure did."

"Aw shucks I missed it." Donald started hitting Goofy then too. "Sorry Donald it's just funny."

"I don't think Kairi thinks it's funny. Do you Kairi?"

"Haha, well actually, I do."

"Aw you're just sayin that cuz you're in love with Sora." The two teens blushed like crazy and turned away. "Told you so." Sora quickly regained his normal color. "Well, I think we should head back to Disney Castle now." Donald and Goofy agreed and they all walked out towards the gummi ship, where they met Riku, Roxas, and Namine. Roxas and Namine were making out in the back seat. "Wow their really going at it." Kairi said. Sora nodded, "Yeah. Well Donald and Goofy are stuck back there, we're up front."

"Hey! Why do we always have to sit back there!"

"Because you guys don't have keyblades."

"Aw Phooey." The gummi ship took off towards Disney Castle.


	23. FIRE!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

"Hey fellas!" The king said as the group was walking towards the throne. "Now I have something to tell ya, sit down." The King started pacing back and forth while talking. "There are some major problems in Twilight Town. It seems a couple chasers are there, not just one. I've also heard that they have Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They might have Fuu as well." Sora sat up in his seat. "What about Seifer and Rai?"

"No word on them, they must be hiding out in the town somewhere. Anyway, the streets are deserted and the townspeople don't know what to do, so I need you to go there first."

"When was the last you heard from them?"

"I didn't. Yen Sid told me. During the weekend."

"Okay so probably not much has changed, we'll get there before anything gets worse."

"Thanks Sora." The King ushered out the group of them. As they were walking towards the gummi ship, Roxas said "Do you guys think they are okay?" Namine felt bad for him, along with the rest of them. "I'm sure they are Roxas. We just gotta hurry up and help them." Roxas nodded his head and they boarded the gummi ship. However, Namine wasn't so sure that they were alright either. She just wanted Roxas to feel a little better.

Sora was looking down at Kairi, who had fallen asleep on his lap. He couldn't stop staring at her. _She looks so peaceful. _"Sora?" Donald piped in. "Hm?"

"How can you fly with Kairi resting on your lap?" Sora smiled. "Because I only need arms to fly Donald. You're just looking for a loophole to get yourself into the pilot's seat. Donald just frowned and sat down next to Goofy.

Kairi woke up noticing that they were about to land in Twilight Town. "Wow. It looks different than I remember." From what they could see, the entire world looked red. "Yeah, I don't remember it like this either." Everyone else agreed with Kairi and Namine. Sora was confused. "I wonder what's going on. Why is the world all red?" Namine shrieked in terror as they became closer and closer. And then she realized what the redness in the town was. "FIRE!" Roxas' face looked full of dread and horror, along with everyone else's. Sora landed the plane awkwardly as they hopped out of the gummi ship and into the garden of the mansion. The mansion hadn't been burning down, it still looked peaceful. "Kairi, Namine, I want you to stay here."

"Sora no! I always get left out."

"Kairi PLEASE!" She could see tears coming from his eyes. Namine looked over with Roxas and he nodded his head, as if to say he also wanted them to stay there. "Sora what happens if someone tries to mess with them?" Riku chimed in, "I'll stay! I'll take on anyone that comes near us!" Sora mouthed a "Thankyou" to Riku. Sora whipped out his keyblade as did Roxas, and they, along with Donald and Goofy, ran towards the hole in the wall that led to Twilight Town.

Riku remembered something important. "Hey, the King said the chasers have Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Fuu. If this is the only place in the town not burning, they must have them in the mansion." Kairi and Namine raised their eyebrows. "You're right" Kairi mentioned, "But what about Sora and the others?"

"Eh they can take care of themselves."

"No I meant are you sure we should go this alone, without any help from them? I mean what if the chasers are there? How will we fight them?" Riku thought about her question for a minute. Then said "Let's just find Hayner and them without the chasers knowing. We know how to be sneaky right?" Namine and Kairi grinned a little. Kairi looked at Namine and together they said "Let's do it."

Sora and the rest ran out of the hole in the wall into Twilight Town, coughing. Sora said "Okay. Roxas, you and me will look for any people that need help here and in the sandlot. Donald and Goofy, you guys take Market Street and Central Station." Everyone nodded and Donald and Goofy went their separate ways. "Sora!" Roxas was ahead of him and had found something suspicious. "A keychain! Come here!" Sora rushed over to find, sure enough, a keychain. It was plain silver with red stripes all around it. "It's the keychain from the Bond of Flame key!" Roxas picked it up and gave it to Sora, who put it in his pocket. "Did you see anyone?" Roxas shook his head. "No." Sora looked down. "Well then, let's get to the sandlot." Sora took off towards the sandlot with Roxas following close behind.

Riku had found out how to get the computer lab to open up from the mansion's library. "This way." He pointed the direction for the girls. "Be on your toes." Kairi drew out her keyblade, in case something snuck up on them. Riku drew his too. Namine didn't have a weapon, but she had powers, so she was also set. They walked through the computer room, but there was no one there. "Should we go to the next room?" Riku led the way into the next room in the computer hall. Namine screamed. There were two bodies lying in the center of the next room. _Oh, God. _

Sora had gotten to the sandlot, and he and Roxas started looking around. "No one." Sora heard Donald's loud voice call out his name. "Sora! We need you!" Roxas and Sora sprinted up the hill towards central station. Donald and Goofy were surrounded by heartless. Sora ran at the heartless, but they disappeared. Just then a very familiar voice was heard, but the person to whom the voice belonged was no where around. "Sora! You stubborn fool! Do you really think you can defeat the darkness this time?"

"Well I did it twice before, what makes you think that I can't?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"There is a war coming." Before Sora could say "I know." The voice was gone and they saw Seifer and Rai. They had locked themselves into the central station. Sora unlocked the door with his key, and the two boys came running out. "Are you guys okay?" Goofy asked. "Yeah, we're fine. But the other guys aren't. Including Olette and Fuu." Sora nodded his head. "Got it."


	24. Sora!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

Sora and Roxas met up with Donald and Goofy. "Okay guys, we've got Rai and Seifer waiting in the gummi ship, will you take them to Disney Castle where they will be safe, then come back for the rest of the group?"   
"Sure Sora." Goofy smiled. The two of them ran off towards the gummi ship. "Roxas, ready to play hero again?"

"You betcha!" Sora and Roxas started running towards the mansion. "Sora what makes you so sure they are in the mansion?"

"Because the other parts of town are on fire."

"Oh, right." They reached the mansion and went inside.

Kairi, Namine, and Riku entered the empty room, to find two bodies lying on the ground. Namine said "Oh my God." Riku ran over to the first one. It was a blonde, tall boy wearing camouflage clothing. The two girls ran over to the other body, it was a short brunette boy wearing some sort of jersey. Riku picked up the boy, and he said "Thanks man, but I can stand now." The other boy was helped up by Namine and Kairi. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, hi Kairi. Who are you guys?"

"Oh, sorry Pence. That's Riku, and she is Namine."

"Right. Hi." The other two smiled and said "Hey." Riku was done with the small talk. "Guys where are Fuu and Olette?"

"We don't know. I don't know anything that happened. All I remember was being drug into this room."

"Me too." Pence added.

"Okay well we have to find them, you should help." The boys looked at eachother and said "Definitely." Just then Riku heard footsteps coming downstairs from the library. "Hayner, Pence!" Kairi shouted. "You guys gotta get outta here!" They ran into the next room, and Kairi and Riku drew their keyblades. Riku almost slashed Sora before realizing it was him. He ran over to Kairi. "Are you okay? I told you to wait in the garden. I got here and you weren't there." Kairi smiled. _Wow he really cares a lot._ "I'm sorry Sora, I just really wanted to help." He was so worried about her, but he just couldn't resist those eyes. "Okay, you can help."

"Oh guys we found Hayner and Pence, they are in the next room." Roxas immediately ran in there. "Guys! I'm so glad you're okay!" The three boys came back into the first room. Sora started speaking again. "Okay, where are Fuu and Olette?"

"We don't know."

"Then why are we all standing here?"

"We were about to go look for them when you two showed up."

"Oh, well let's get moving." Sora led the way to the next room, then the next, fighting a small amount of heartless along the way. They entered the final room, and they all saw Olette and Fuu sleeping in two of the pods. Sora was surprised. "Well that was easy. Only a couple of heartless." Maleficent appeared then. "That's what you think." Riku and Sora shouted, "Maleficent!"

"Yes, very good." Riku was angry. "What do you want?!"

"I want Sora to fight on MY side of the soon to come war. You're a pretty tough fighter too." She laughed. "Maybe if I kidnap one, the other one fights on my side for free." Sora got angry now. "I will NEVER fight on your side!"

"We will see about that. You wouldn't want to lose the princess would you?" Sora was incredibly angry now, he ran at her with his keyblade, but she disappeared before he could hit her. He ran back, hoping that Kairi was still there, and wasn't kidnapped like last time back in Radiant Garden. "Oh Kairi thank god you're still here!" He squeezed her tightly. "Sora I can't breathe!" He let go.

"Oops." Riku tried opening the locks with his key but the pods wouldn't unlock. "Sora, I think you have to unlock these." Sora aimed his key at the two pods, but nothing. Roxas then gave it a shot. They both opened. Sora was surprised. "How come it worked for Roxas and not us?"

"Maybe it's because I have a connection with Olette and Fuu, I know them." Kairi nodded. "That must be it." The girls were barely waking up. Hayner was trying to get Olette up completely, and Roxas was trying to wake up Fuu. Namine found herself a bit jealous. _He is just helping her. Nothing to worry about. _The girls finally woke up completely and Roxas explained what happened. "Okay, so you guys need to go with Hayner and Pence and wait in the garden of the mansion. We'll be out as soon as we make sure everything is safe in the room where Sora's pod was." The two girls agreed and Sora walked into the next room where his sleeping pod was. He turned around to see that there was a forcefield blocking the others from entering the room. It was just him. A chaser jumped onto the ground from above, even though there was no place to jump from. It was like it fell out of the sky. Sora drew his keyblade and the chaser drew his. Then not one, but two more chasers jumped down with two more keys. Sora was afraid now. "Oh god." He threw himself and slashed one, but when he was going back for a second attack, the one he attacked grabbed him and threw him against the forcefield. "Sora!" Kairi screamed. She leaned up against the forcefield and started crying as she watched him being beaten up until he was unconscious.


	25. Sora, I can't

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

Sora woke up with a bad headache. The first thing he saw was a woman standing over him. As his eyes became more focused he began to realize it was Kairi. She was tending to him. "Hey Kairi." She was tearing up a little bit. "Hi. Are you feeling okay?" He looked around. "No. What happened?"

"We were in the pod room in the mansion in Twilight Town. A forcefield went up blocking you from us, and three chasers attacked you. Riku ran towards the gummi ship and paged King Mickey, who brought a back up gummi ship and brought you back here."

"I recognize this place."

"It's Disney Castle."  
"I don't remember my room looking like this."

"That's because this isn't your room. It's my room." For some reason Sora felt his eyes begin to well up with that statement. _No wonder the pillows smell so good. _"So are you hurting?"

"Yeah, but just my head." Kairi got up. "I'll be right back." She left the room and he looked around some more. He saw that Kairi had decorated it her own way. King Mickey came into the room. "Well hey there Sora."

"Hey your majesty. How come Kairi decorated this?"

"It's her room, she can do what she wants with it."  
"But isn't it temporary."

"Welp, as long as you all keep fighting the darkness, there will always be a safe place for you to stay here."

"Oh." Kairi came back in. "Hey Sora. I got you an ice pack to put on your head." King Mickey starting walking towards the door. "I'll see you all at dinner." He walked out. Sora tried to take the ice pack from Kairi, but she took his hand and placed it back on the bed he was resting in. She put the ice pack on his head herself. "Thanks."

"Your welcome." Neither of them said anything for awhile. They just looked into each other's eyes, wondering what was going to happen next. Kairi leaned down to kiss him, but before she could the door swung open. "Sora!" Donald and Goofy yelled as they ran inside. "How ya feelin?" Goofy asked. Donald said "Yeah, and why are you in here?"  
"I don't know. I just woke up in here. Kairi why am I in your room and not mine?"

"I wanted to make sure you stayed safe. The way you always do for me." He smiled at her and she smiled back, but then he watched her open the door and walk away. _Where is she going? _

Soon after Donald and Goofy left, Roxas came in, followed by Riku, and then Namine. "Hey how you feeling?"

"Where's Kairi?"

"Hey I have my own life to ya know. I'm not just a Kairi radar." Sora laughed. "Sorry Namine. I'm feeling alright I guess. Just my head still hurts a little."

"Well after that beating I should think so." She put some flowers she had picked in a vase in Kairi's room, next to his bed, next to the balloons the guys brought. She then began to walk out of the room. "I hope you feel better. Oh and by the way, she is in the courtyard. But don't try to get up and go see her. You need rest. She understands that." He just nodded and tried to go back to sleep.

Kairi was in the garden, thinking. "Whatcha thinking about?" asked the duck walking up to her. "Hey Donald."

"Hey." He hopped up and sat next to her on the ledge. "I'm thinking about Sora."  
"Of course you are."

"I'm thinking that, his accident, what happened back there…"

"Yes?"

"I'm thinking that it was my fault."

"That's ridiculous. How is it your fault?"

"Maybe Sora's focus was too much on me, and not on the chaser."

"Well…" Donald didn't know what to say because there was a good chance that that was true. "So what are you thinking Kairi?"

"I don't know what I should do about it. What could take his attention off of me and onto what's happening?"

"I don't know." Donald did know, he just didn't want to say anything. He wanted her to reach that decision on her own.

King Mickey had the dinner from that night brought to Sora upstairs, who was now in his room. Riku and Roxas had helped him get there earlier. "Hey Goofy thanks for the food. Do you know where Kairi is?"

"Well gawrsh Sora, I don't. She was at dinner, but she was kinda quiet, like she was sad." Sora looked sad now. "Oh." Goofy left him alone and he just put the tray of food to the side. He tried to get up to go find her, but found that he was too weak to get out the door. _Where is she?_

It was getting late, and Kairi was still sitting in her room, laying on her bed. She wanted to be reminded of Sora. She sighed. _This is the hardest decision I have ever had to make. _She got up and began walking towards Sora's room. She knocked on the door, and saw that his face immediately started glowing as soon as she walked into the room. "Kairi I'm so glad you're he…" She didn't let him finish. She walked up and kissed him passionately. This went on for about a minute, and then she started to cry. She pulled back and walked over to the other side of the room and sat in the corner while she cried. "Kairi?" Sora asked. He didn't know what was wrong, but he felt for her, and so he started to cry as well. He waited for her answer, but she didn't even look up. All he could see were her tears hitting the carpet. He tried to get up. "No Sora don't!" She almost yelled. "You're hurt. You can't move." He got up anyway and noticed she looked scared. He made his way over to her, slowly. He got to her and sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Kairi, what's wrong?" She tried to look at him but couldn't, it was too painful. She stood up immediately. "Sora." She started to cry even more now while saying his name. "Sora I cant…" He was completely scared now. He couldn't move. He felt numb. She finally worked up enough courage to say it. "Sora. I can't do this anymore." He knew what she was talking about, but still, he asked. "Can't do what?" He started crying uncontrollably now, as she was. "This Sora! I can't do this!" He continued to cry. "The reason that you are hurt is because of me. I am taking away too much of your focus. You need to be focused on winning this battle, not on me." He knew what she was talking about. He had been focusing solely on her. Still he couldn't let her go. "Kairi what are you saying?" He looked into her eyes and she looked into his, then quickly looked away. "Sora, I can't leave, because I have to fight this war as well. But, we can't do this." He knew what she was doing. He got on his knees and wrapped his arms around her knees, while she was standing. "No, Kairi please, don't do this. Please." She was shaking now, she didn't want to let him go, not now, not ever. And he felt the same way. But she knew if they continued down that road, there would be a good chance that he could be hurt badly again, or worse, killed. "Sora I can't…"  
"No Kairi. Please no, I love you." Those words hit her badly. "I lo-" She couldn't finish those words. She knew that saying them would make it that much harder. "Sora, for now, I can't- we can't, do this. We can't." He got up and held onto her, both of them still crying. They stayed like that hours. Until finally, they let go. She looked into his eyes and wanted to say the words she felt and he wanted to hear, but she couldn't do that. She took a deep breath and walked out the door to her room, with tears streaming down her face. Sora had tears streaming down his too. He layed down on his bed, hoping to fall asleep soon and awaken to find that this whole thing was only a dream.


	26. The Morning After

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney

Kairi walked out of Sora's room to find that Riku, Namine, and Roxas were waiting out in the hall. "What are you guys doing here?" Namine walked up to Kairi and hugged her. "I sensed how you were feeling, and I didn't know what was wrong, so I came searching for you." Roxas looked at her. "Yeah, and I could sense how Sora was feeling, and I knew something was wrong, so I told Riku and we came looking for Sora. We met up with Namine here."

"Did you hear what went on?" Riku was the first to reply. "Yeah. I'm so sorry Kai." He then hugged her as well. "But for what it's worth, what you just did shows how much you truly love him. To put yourself in that much pain so he wouldn't be hurt anymore."

"Thanks Riku, but it doesn't really help how I'm feeling. I'll see you guys later. I'm going to bed." Kairi let go of Riku and walked towards her room. The three of them just watched her walk away.

Sora woke up the next morning, thinking about what had happened the night before. _It MUST have been a dream. _Roxas heard him think this. _Sora. I'm sorry man, but it's not. It really happened. I'm sorry. _

_No it could'nt have really happened. _

It did. Listen everyone is meeting in the courtyard for breakfast before you go to your next world. Get dressed and meet us down here.

_Is Kairi there?_

I don't know. Sora took a shower and got dressed. He went down to the courtyard, thinking about what happened the entire way down. He got to the hallway leading to the courtyard and looked out at everyone there. She was there. She was sitting at the end of the table, and there was one spot at the other end of the table. He guessed it was for him. She doesn't look too happy either. He knew she wouldn't be. He knew Kairi. He knew that she never lied. About anything. She must have really done this because she was worried about me. When he thought those words, he almost started to cry again.

Kairi saw him looking at her from the hallway leading to the courtyard. "Guys tell me I made the right decision." She said while looking at him. "You know we all think that you did." Mickey said. "Don't worry Kairi, it won't be like this forever." Riku comforted her. He came down and sat in his seat at the other end of the table. He kept looking at her. She wanted to look back, but she knew it would cause them both too much pain. She just kept looking down, playing with her food. She did this until she couldn't take it anymore. "Your majesty, if it's okay with you, I think I'm going to go back up to my room now."

"Okay princess. I'll send Donald up to get you when you guys should be on your way to the next world." Kairi looked at King Mickey as if to say "Thanks." She got up and walked towards her room, looking at her shoes the entire way so she wouldn't see Sora.

He didn't know why, but he was crushed when she didn't even look at him when she was walking back to her room. He guessed it was because she couldn't take the pain of seeing him. He looked up and noticed all of the others staring at him in sympathy. "What?" He pretended to sound a little angry, but he knew his voice only let the sadness show itself. "Nothing." Riku said and the rest of them looked down at their plates and started to eat again. Sora got up and ran towards the main castle without even excusing himself. King Mickey looked at him. "Riku, make sure he doesn't go into Kairi's room." Riku nodded and got up and took off after him.

Sora had just gotten to his room and went inside. He was originally going to Kairi's room, but he knew that King Mickey had sent someone to follow him. Riku came in. "Hey Sora are you okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Just let me know when it's time to go okay?" Riku nodded and shut the door. He waited five minutes before attempting to go back outside to Kairi's room. Just to be sure Riku was gone. He opened his door and peered out. No one in sight. He darted towards Kairi's room, hoping he wouldn't be seen if there were anyone watching for him. He was out of breath, but he knocked on her door. She answered it. "Sora what are you-" He didn't let her finish. "You can't just not look at me. You have to look at me! You have to talk to me! We are a team, and we have to work together." She was surprised at his sense of urgency and seriousness. "Sora, don't yell."

"I'm not trying to yell. But Kairi look, you-uh we, have to get over this. We are supposed to be working together."

"I know that."

"Well we can't just keep ignoring each other!" She knew he was right, but she couldn't bear to take this right now. "Sora, I think you should go."  
"What?"

"You need to go now."

"Why can't we talk about this?" He looked scared, so she looked down again. She didn't want to see him like this. "Sora, you need to go. If you don't, I will." He just looked at her. She could see the sadness in his face, but also a little bit of anger and hopelessness. He finally walked out the door, without saying another word. She shut the door and layed on her bed and started to cry. "God this sucks! Why can't we be normal teenagers? I can't take this!", she screamed into her pillow. Namine heard her thoughts and ran up. "Kairi open the door!"  
"Nam I don't want to talk about this now." Namine did want to talk to her about it, but that wasn't the only reason she came up. "No Kairi, it's time to go. Pull yourself together. Come on." Kairi got up and wiped the tears from her face. She pulled herself together and opened the door. "Let's go."

Namine and Kairi were the last ones in the gummi ship. As usual, Sora was driving, and Donald and Goofy were in the front with him. Riku was in the middle seat, and in the back was Roxas, waiting for Namine, so they could begin their daily makeout routine. Only this time, Namine didn't submit to it. She whispered in his ear, "Let's not do anything to upset Kairi or Sora." He nodded, and Kairi climbed in the back seat next to Namine. Goofy pushed the button to shut the doors and asked, "Does everybody have their seat belts on?" Everyone told him that they did. Donald said next, "3-2-1 Blastoff!" He always said that. Kairi didn't know why. She didn't want a reason to talk to Sora, but he did want a reason to talk to her. "We are headed towards Port Royal next, if that's okay with everybody." Everyone except for Kairi said, "Yes." He was going to ask her, but then he figured that that would just put her in an unbelievably difficult position, so he refrained.

The door opened and everyone stepped out. Kairi looked down and noticed she was dressed like a pirate, with her hair pulled back, and in ragged clothes. Sora looked at her. Now only she can pull that off. He looked down. Awesome, I'm a pirate! Roxas and Namine looked at each other and each of them said at the same time, "Wow." Kairi looked away, guessing at what they were going to do next. She was right. Just then, Elizabeth came running down the path, "Hey Sora! Donald! Goofy! Get in the boat!" Will Turner was following behind her, holding the train of the wedding dress she was wearing. Captain Jack Sparrow came running after them. The group just watched Jack, Will, and Elizabeth rush by, until they looked back and saw the entire British Navy running after them, down the path. "RUN!" Sora shouted. He made sure everyone was in the boat before taking out his keyblade and slashing the ropes that were holding the boats to the dock. "Sora quick, use your fire and cut the ropes off of the other boats!" He heard Will say. He threw the fire from his keyblade and the other boats' ropes, and they too floated out to sea. He waved his keyblade at the British Navy. "See ya!" Elizabeth sat down, and Will sat next to her, while Jack steered the boat. "So if you don't mind me asking, who are these friends of yours Sora?" Sora looked at Elizabeth, who had asked the question. "Well," He went around the group. "This is my best friend Riku. This is my nobody, Roxas, and this is Namine. I don't think there is a term to describe what we are. Just friends, I guess. And this is Kairi. She's my…" He paused for a moment. He was about to say girlfriend but he stopped himself. "She's my friend." Kairi didn't like him referring to her as just a friend, but she knew it was the right thing to do. "And if you don't mind my asking, why are you in a wedding dress Elizabeth?" Sora leaned in to listen, along with the rest of the group, even Will, as if he didn't know. "Well, today was supposed to be mine and Will's wedding day. But then Jack Sparrow showed up. See I had told Commodore Norrington that Will and I had taken care of him, but we hadn't. It's punishable by death to hide a pirate. So, they were trying to kill Will and Jack, and take me to prison. They wouldn't kill me because the Commodore still loves me and I'm thought of as Royalty. So we ran. And we saw you guys next to the boat." Everyone, including Jack Sparrow, who was listening, said "Oh."


	27. RUM!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.

"Oh." Everyone said after hearing Elizabeth's story. Sora tried to think of what to say next. "Well, where to?" Jack Sparrow answered. "To Isla Del Muerta."

"And why?" Kairi asked. "Because a man named Davy Jones' ship sank there, and he has something that I want."

"What?"

"I'm not telling ya."

"Why?"

"My Lord Lad you're very persistent, aren't ye?" Riku laughed. "That's Sora."

"What does he have Jack? Maybe we can help you get it." Jack Sparrow sighed, as if giving up, and reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "A key?" Sora asked. "Why?"

"To open the chest to Davy Jones' heart. I have to take possession of his heart."

"Why do you need to do that?"

"Because if I have his heart, I can control his mind."

"Oh." Will Turner pulled Sora aside. "Sora can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Will took Sora to the inside of the ship. "Sora Jack is going to keep the heart. But we need to destroy it. We can't let Jack get a hold of it, because he will become drunk with power. You know Jack."

"Right. So how do you plan on destroying it?"

"I have to use this…" Will pulled out a silver dagger. "I have to use this, and pierce through the middle of his heart. That way the evil Davy Jones is gone, and Jack will remain, well, Jack."  
"Right. But Will, we don't need that key. My key opens almost any lock."

"It won't open this one lad."

"Okay. So do we pretend to go along with Jack for now?"  
"Aye."

"Alright. So about yours and Elizabeths' wedding?" Sora wanted more details. Just something to talk about. Will had just opened his mouth to speak when he heard Elizabeth scream. "WILL! SORA!" Sora looked at Will and then Will looked at Sora and both darted towards the outside of the ship.

Sora opened the door and ran out first. He saw Jack, along with the rest of the group, fighting pirates. But there were hundreds. They needed help. Sora held out his right hand as he ran towards one. A silver and blue light showed up as his keyblade appeared in his hand. Will drew his sword and then everyone was fighting. Sora had a handle on what he was doing, so occasionally he just glanced over at Kairi to be sure she was okay. _My God she's good. She can fight! _He noticed a glow around Namine and realized that Kairi must have been summoning her back to her body to go into drive form. He saw her twirl up in the air and come back down, looking like a true warrior. _She looks amazing._

_Dude no time for that. Focus. _Roxas told Sora in his head while he was also fighting pirates.

Soon all the pirates were gone, and Namine had come out of Kairi's body in order to heal everyone. "Is everybody okay?" Elizabeth asked. "Aye doll." Jack responded while brushing her hair back behind her ear. She slapped his hand. "You just don't give up do you Jack? I'm not yours."

"Aye but ye could be."

"Get the hell away from me."

"Well well we need to work on your manners darling." Will got in front of Elizabeth. "Not now Jack." Sora saw Will get in front of Elizabeth to protect her and started to well up, wishing he had someone he could do that with. He shyed away from the group and went inside the ship to look at the maps that Jack had. _Isla De Muerta. Where is it? _He scanned up and down the page until he finally found it. _We must be close._

Everyone was inside except for Kairi. She was at the Bow of the Black Pearl looking ahead. _It's so beautiful. _It was dark, and the marine layer was thick, but she still saw the beauty in the open sea. Until she saw a dark outline of what looked like land. She ran inside. "Jack, land!" He got up and went outside. "Well you've got a good eye there lassy." She blushed. Not because she liked him, but because she got a compliment. "Thankyou."

"Well let's celebrate! Sora, lad, get the rum!" Sora looked at him. "The rum lad, the rum!"

"What rum?"

"The Rum, it's in the cupboard matey! Will will show you." Sora went and got two bottles of what looked like rum. "Is this it?"

"Aye, lad. Is this all of it?"

"No, I just grabbed what I could carry."

"Well come on now let's get the rest of it!"

"Okay." Sora and the rest of the group, besides Will and Elizabeth of course, had never heard of rum, so they didn't know that there was alcohol in it. "Here lass! Since you saw the land first!" He threw a bottle of rum at Kairi, who caught it. "Are we supposed to drink it?"

"Aye woman. Ye don't know it?"

"No." She opened the bottle with a confused look on her face and took the first drink. She felt her throat burning. "It's burning!"

"It's supposed to. Lets ya know its workin'"

"Oh." She took a few more drinks. "It's not that bad." Sora got his next. Then the rest of the group.

A few minutes after that, Kairi began to feel the first effects of the rum. "I don't feel so good." Sora looked at her with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I feel kinda dizzy."

"Me too. Jack is it supposed to do this?"

"Well of course it is! Haven't ye ever heard of rum before?"

"Nope."  
"Wow." Was all Jack could say.

Jack was too drunk to steer the ship, and so was everyone else, except for Will and Elizabeth, who chose not to drink. Will steered the ship until they hit land. "We've hit land! But none of you are in your right minds so I suggest we sleep before we get off the ship." Jack had now fallen over. Everyone was laughing hysterically. Will and Elizabeth helped get everyone inside. Since Kairi was so small and had drunk so much, she was the first one to pass out. Jack was the last. "Do you think Sora and his friends knew what they were doing before they drank?" Will asked Elizabeth. "No. I don't think they knew what alcohol was."

"What a shame."

"Yes."


	28. Decisions

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney, and I'm so sick of writing it every single chapter. So if you guys don't understand that, I feel sorry for you, but I'm not writing it anymore.

Sora woke up rubbing his head. "Wow." All the others were doing the same. "That was weird." Riku suggested. "Yeah." Sora looked around. "Hey, where is Will and Elizabeth?" Jack looked around, and then at Sora. "I don't know."

Kairi had gone outside and found Will and Elizabeth at the front of the ship. "Hey."

"Hey there, Kairi is it?"

"Right. And you're Elizabeth?"

"Yes."

"And Will?"

"Yes maam."

"Oh." Kairi knew that Will and Elizabeth were somewhat of an item, so she left. She didn't want to be the cause of an uncomfortable moment.

Sora had walked out of the inside of the ship and had managed to bump into Kairi. "I-I'm so-"

"No, it was my fault." She said, though she didn't know why. It was the first time they were alone together since they were at Disney Castle. "Well I'm gonna go.. um, "  
"It's okay. You don't have to explain." She let him go, and he wasn't so sure of where he was going himself, he just couldn't bear to be with her alone. It brought back too many memories. Kairi sighed and looked up at the next level of the ship. Will was gone, Elizabeth was just enjoying the sunrise. She was thinking about her earlier confrontation with Sora as she walked up the steps.

"Elizabeth? You know Sora right?"

"Yeah. A little, I suppose."

"Is he one to be distracted easily?"

"Well I've known him only so long, you should know the answer to that question better than I."

"Yeah." She sat there in silence. She knew the answer to that question, but she was hoping maybe that it wasn't true. Then she wouldn't have to continue down this road. The one without Sora. "You miss him don't you?"

"Who?"

"You know who."

"Well yeah, of course, but…"  
"Did you make the right decision?"

"Exactly."

"Do you want my opinion?"

"Please."

"I admire you for doing what you did. I would be wise to do the same. I know Will would be better off if I wasn't a major part of his life, but I'm not as strong as you are, despite how you see me fighting all these pirates."

"So you think I made the right decision?"

"Honestly, yes. And I know it's hard to follow through with the decision you made, but to think, it's not permanent. This is just as long as Sora continues to fight these battles. Right?"  
"Just as long as Sora continues to fight. But, Sora may _always _have to fight."

"I haven't known that boy for very long, but I can see it in his eyes how much he truly cares for you."

"Thanks, that really helps," Kairi said, sarcastically. "Hold on Kairi. I know you made the right decision. Everyone knows it. But…" Kairi's eyes lit up at the sound of what just came out of Elizabeth's mouth. "But…No one ever said that the right decision was always the best decision." She smiled at Kairi who smiled back. "Thank you." Elizabeth nodded her head in a gesture that seemed to say, "You're welcome."

Will found the two girls. "Hey we're going now. Onto the island."

"Alright." Elizabeth got up and walked down the stairs. Riku was walking upstairs, towards Kairi. "Hey. How ya holdin' up?"

"Great!" Riku looked surprised. "Wha-Why great?"

"Because, I just heard some great news."

"What?"  
"The right decision isn't always the best decision."

"Oh." Riku had no idea what she meant, but he just played along. "Well we should probably get going then."

"Yep." Kairi jogged down the stairs and across the deck, down to the island. Riku followed. Sora was the last one off the ship.

As soon as Sora stepped foot on the sand of Isla De Muerta, he felt the ground vibrating. Immediately he held out his hand and his keyblade appeared. Roxas, Riku, and Kairi held out their hands as well. All four keybearers had their keyblades. Jack pulled his sword out of his belt. Will then proceeded to pull two swords out of his. He tossed one to Elizabeth, who caught it, to the amazement of Jack. "Well now. There's a quality ye don't see in every woman nowadays." Elizabeth held her sword out at Jack. "That's right. I can fight just as well as the rest of you." Sora smiled in that Elizabeth reminded him so much of Kairi. Always wanting to be a part of the action. Not caring if she was hurt. But he didn't have much time to think.

Sora was looking into the forest, waiting for anything, but probably pirates or heartless. He was wrong. Out of the forest came the three chasers that had knocked him unconscious before. "Oh crap." He immediately ran after them, first, the one closest to Kairi. "Sora!" She yelled, "I can take care of it!" He ignored her comment and helped her fight off the chaser. Eventually the first one that he and Kairi were fighting, came crashing down, and Sora caught the keyblade it was bearing when it fell. He didn't have much time, but he glanced at it. "Mysterious Abyss." He said. He wished it back to Disney Castle, then went to help the others fight the other two chasers. Kairi had already gone to fight one.

With one final slash, the last chaser was gone. "Wow. I'm lucky that I had some people here to help me. Last time I was outnumbered."

"Yeah." Kairi said. She was thinking the same thing. _Yeah. Maybe I'm not draining his focus. He could have just lost because he was outnumbered…But that never stopped him before? I don't know._

_What are you going to do?_

You can just hear everything that goes on in my head can't you Namine? Can't I get any privacy at all?

Well sadly Kai, that's not up to me. Believe me some of your thoughts I don't want to hear.

Whatever. I think I made a mistake.

_Really?  
__Yeah. Why? You don't think so?_

No I think you were draining his focus. I mean I'm not saying that you were causing him to struggle, I'm just saying that without you to worry about, he's got more energy to focus on his attacks.

_Oh._

"Well that was invigorating was it not?," Elizabeth spoke up. "I think so." Will looked at Elizabeth. "You were great."

"I know. You too." Sora smiled at how she confirmed her compliment with such confidence. She was just so much like Kairi in so many ways. "Listen, Elizabeth? Jack? Will?"

"Yes?" The three simultaneously answered. "I have a proposal for you. See there is a war coming, between light and darkness. We have been sent to seek the help of our friends in the worlds to help us out. If you agree to this, I can provide a keyblade for each of you. But the King, meaning King Mickey, wanted us to go and recruit as many people as possible." Jack had a conspiring look on his face as he played with his beard. "What's in it for me?" Sora laughed. Of course Jack Sparrow would ask that. He should have known better. "Well, you seem to like my keyblade an awful lot. I can let you keep it after the battle."

"Deal mate. When do we fight this so called war?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Oh well prepared are we?" Elizabeth gave him a sly smirk. "Of course we'll help you. And you don't need to give Jack your keyblade."

"Are you just speaking on my behalf now miss?"

"Yes."

"Oh well alright." Jack just continued to twirl his beard in with his finger. Donald then interrupted the conversation. "Uh guys, we've got trouble!" Heartless were coming. Lots of them.

Once again, the ten of them took out their weapons, except for Namine of course, who conformed into Kairi's body to give her extra strength. This time Sora called Roxas too, and he turned into King of Hearts Form. Kairi was in Queen of Hearts Form. "Okay let's go." Sora said as they all darted towards the heartless.


	29. The Flying Dutchman

After fighting the heartless, the group walked into the cave that lead to shipwreck cove. **(A/N: I know Isla de Muerta and Shipwreck cove are different places in the movie, just go with it.) **They got to the opening where they saw mountains of makeshift buildings and houses made out of boats that had crashed. "WOW" was all they could say. All but Will Elizabeth and Jack of course, because it wasn't really knew to them. Sora took his eyes off it and turned to Jack. "So this Davy Jones guy is here?"

"No. He is somewhere in the Atlantic."

"Then, why are we here?"

"We are going to commondeere a ship mate."

"Really? Wow we're gonna steal a pirate ship." Elizabeth cut in, "Not steal, _commondeere._"

"What's the difference?"

"That we're technically stealing it with the promise to bring it back, but we will probably end up destroying it in battle so it's not really a guarantee." Jack said, grinning. "Which means that Jack has no intention on bringing it back." Will added. "Who's gonna steer it?"

"I am." Sora looked at Will. "Okay, so who are we going with?"

"Elizabeth will be coming with me, along with Riku, Donald, and Kairi."

"Then that means that me, Roxas, Namine, and Goofy are with Jack?"

"Aye."

"So what's the purpose of two boats?" Kairi asked them.

"It's obvious ye have never heard of the Flying Dutchman. It's the fastest ship out there, even faster than the pearl. It would be much easier to defeat it if we had two boats."

"Oh."

The group split up and set out to find the Flying Dutchman. Donald wouldn't shut up so Will put him in the crow's nest and gave him a telescope to look out for it. Riku took care of the job of first mate. Elizabeth and Kairi were inside, but were also ready in case they all ran into trouble. Kairi was spinning the globe inside, thinking of what to talk about with Elizabeth. She beat her to it. "So Kairi, what's this thing with you and Sora?"

"You don't know?"

"I know, but when did it all start?"

"I moved to his island when I was eight. I don't really remember much about Hollow Bastion but apparently my mother and father were the King and Queen of it. I didn't learn about that or that I was a princess until I was fourteen."

"You and I are not all that different."

"How?"

"I was the governer's daughter of Port Royal."

"Oh." Elizabeth was listening intently. "Well, go on."

" An evil woman named Maleficent came to my world and in order to insure mine and my parent's safety, we were transported to another world, Sora's island. My memory was almost completely erased by a good witch in order to keep the secret quiet. Which is why I didn't learn of any of this until I was kidnapped by Maleficent at age fourteen, nearly two-and-a-half years ago."

"What happened to you?"

"She was using me, along with six other princesses, to open a keyhole that led to the heart of all worlds so she could control them. Sora obtained a keyblade, and he fought through all these different worlds in order to lock their keyholes so Maleficent couldn't get to them, and all at the same time, looking for me. He finally found me in Hollow Bastion, but I was only an empty soul. My heart was taken by Maleficent to open the door. I was alive and lifeless at the same time. When Sora learned that a part of my heart was inside him, he took a special keyblade used to free the heart and stabbed himself with it in order to give me my heart back. This turned him into a heartless and to turn him back I had to recognize him in his heartless form and save him. I did this and at the end of the battle I went back to my island and he promised to come back for me when it was safe. Ever since he saved me I have loved him more than anything. I've never felt this feeling for anyone or anything before." Elizabeth told Kairi how their stories were similiar and then Kairi told her what happened the next year and up until they arrived at Port Royal. "That's quite a story."

"So is yours. So, after you know everything, what do you think about Sora and I?"

"Honestly, if you feel this way about him you should forget the reasons you did this. By the story you just told me it sounds like if this love doesn't anything to affect this battle it will help it. Sora may have his mind on you but it sounds to me like you are the one who makes him strong enough to fight this battle and take on this responsibility." Kairi smiled and hugged Elizabeth out of happiness. "You're so right! I never really saw it this way. Thank you thank you!" Kairi let go and the two walked out onto the deck. "Are we getting close?" Will turned to Elizabeth. "Yes. I see it's shadow."

Will and Jack caught up to the Dutchman and blasted the cannons into the ship. Jack shouted at Sora, and Goofy. "Ready? Go!" Will and the rest of the other group watched them swing across from their ship into the Dutchman and helped Riku up onto the railing. "Donald, take care of Kairi and Elizabeth, we'll be back."

"Aye Aye," he answered back.

"Will, I'm quite capable of taking care of myself." Elizabeth drew out her sword and looked at Kairi, who then summoned her keyblade, and Namine from the other ship. "Me too." He was going to argue that it was too dangerous but he knew he couldn't win. He helped the other three onto the railing and the five of them swung across. He looked at Elizabeth when they landed on the Dutchman. "Be careful. Watch out for the girl, too. She's as important to Sora as you are to me." Elizabeth blushed but still kept her serious face. "Go get the key," she kissed him.

Sora ran after the crew and knew he needed Roxas. _Roxas help me. _Sora glowed gold and red and spun up into the sky summoning Roxas. The crew watched in awe, which gave Jack and Goofy plenty of time to injure at least ten of them. Sora landed and chased after the crew. He killed off three of them and went back to back with Goofy. "Jack, go get your key! We'll hold them off!" Sora shouted. Jack killed off one more and then sprinted for the inside of the ship. They killed off the other five and ran to the other side of the ship to assist Will, Riku and Donald, not knowing that the other two girls were on the ship. Sora ran and accidentally bumped into Kairi. "Kairi! What are you doing you're going to get hurt!" Kairi summoned another keyblade from Disney Castle and killed off four of the crew members simultaneously, then held up her keyblade at Sora. "I can do this." He stood there, shocked, but soon shook it off and summoned another keyblade for him as well.

_Come on where is it? Where is it? _

"Something I can help you with?" Jack was expecting the voice he heard to be Davy Jones but turned to find Will. "Yeah, help me find the key you whelp!" Will gave him a glare and went into the next room to look. "Jack!" Jack ran in. "What is it?" He said, annoyed, then he almost got stabbed by the sword of Davy Jones behind him if Will hadn't stopped it. He turned around and the two fought Davy Jones together, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect. "We can't win!" Jack still kept trying to fight but Will grabbed him by his shirt and they ran. They got out to the upper deck and found that somehow there were a lot more crew members than before. Will shouted "Back onto the pearl!" He swung across with Elizabeth holding onto him and Sora did the same with Kairi, Namine and Roxas still in their bodies. Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Jack swung across next, and Jack turned the Pearl around as quickly as possible.

The Dutchman did not follow the Pearl to continue the fight and eventually it disappeared in the distance. Sora sat down. "Now what?" Jack looked down on Sora then back up at the horizon. "To Tortuga."


	30. Reconciliations

Jack looked out at the open sea and flipped open his special compass. "To Tortuga." Will and Elizabeth's faces immediately lit up. Riku looked at Will, then at Elizabeth. "What's Tortuga?"

"It's a very extraordinary place."

"Like how?"

"So many different kinds of people. Some drunken people wander the streets at night with their friends, there are many games played at night like dice and poker. It never gets boring."

"Oh."

Sora and Roxas were dueling with their keyblades. Namine came and stood next to Kairi. "Nice huh?" Kairi nodded her head. "Mhm." Namine looked at Kairi. "Um, hey Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching Sora and Roxas duel. Isn't that what you're doing?" She laughed a little bit. Namine looked serious. "No, I mean with you and Sora. Are you guys done forever?"

"No, of course not. I just didn't want him to lose focus, you know that."

"And you also know that you're the reason that he is as strong as he is."

"I know."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I guess, I need to talk to him." Namine got excited. "So this means..."

"Yeah." Kairi sounded a little worried, but also happy.

"Okay," Roxas said out of breath, "you win." Sora smiled and helped his friend up. "Maybe next time man."

"Definitely next time."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that." Roxas punched Sora's arm playfully. Sora stopped when he saw Kairi walking up to him. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Namine. Good luck." Roxas walked away. Kairi said nothing, she only grabbed Sora's hand and led him to the bow of the Black Pearl. She pointed straight out ahead when they got there, and Sora could see all the lights from Tortuga. "Pretty, huh." He nodded in agreement. She looked deep into his eyes. He looked back. "Um, is everything okay?" Kairi regained her focus. "Yeah. Sorry."

"No it's okay it's just you looked sad."  
"I'm a little sad I guess." Sora rested his arms on the railing of the boat. He looked back at Kairi and she did the same. "What's wrong Kairi?"

"Sora," Kairi looked around to see if anyone was still outside. They weren't. It was just the two of them. "Sora, are you mad at me?"

"What would make you say that?"

"Because of what happened back at Disney Castle. I mean, we haven't spoken much." He looked into her eyes again. "No, I'm not. I know you did what you did for a reason."

"I know, but, I'm having second thoughts as to whether or not it was a good reason to give this up."  
"Had you really been draining my focus, then yeah. But, you weren't. Yeah I had my mind on you trying to keep you safe, but you give me the strength and the courage to do what I do. You know me, Kairi. Better than my own mother. I just can't get it through my head that you thought I would do better without you. How could you think that?" Kairi felt bad. "I'm really sorry. It's just seeing you being hurt and almost killed by those three chasers killed me. I didn't want to see you hurt again. And if that meant me out of your life, so be it." Sora looked at Kairi again and saw tears running down her cheeks. "Kairi?" He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "What do you want to do now?" He was looking for either a "I want to go to bed", or a "we should finish talking about this tomorrow." He didn't get that. He didn't get a word at all. Kairi leaned in and touched her forehead to his and looked down. He moved his head up and kissed her. She was reluctant at first, but then she sunk into it and the kiss got deeper. His hands were around her waist and hers were in his hair. Sora moved her up against the railing of the boat, still kissing her. He pulled away. He hugged her close to him. "Hold on tight." Sora closed his eyes and started drifting up into the air. "Remember this?" Sora had shown Kairi he could fly since she didn't believe him when he told her. But the last time they did this was back on the island. "Yeah." She started kissing him again until she noticed how high up they were. "Oh my God Sora go back down!"

"Sh, I won't let you go. I never will." She smiled and her eyes welled up with tears again. "Look at the city Kairi." Kairi looked. "Oh wow." They were hovering high above the ocean and high above the Black Pearl. "Kairi, please, believe me when I tell you I will always be stronger with you by my side. I love you." She closed her eyes and looked down. _I can't believe how great this is. _She looked back up into his eyes. "I love you too. I'll never do this again. I know now that I don't need to. I'll always be here as long as you want me to be."

"I want you here, next to me, for as long as we live." He slowly descended and they landed back on the Pearl. He took her hand and walked her inside. Everyone was already sleeping. "How long were we out there?" Sora looked at his watch. "Two hours." She smiled and kissed him again. "Goodnight." Kairi layed down on her bunk. Sora walked over to his and layed down. "Good night." Kairi woke up an hour later, cold. She got out of her bunk and went to Sora's. It was a small bunk, but she easily fit next to him. She covered them up with his blanket, and then hers. She wasn't cold for the rest of the night.

**(A/N: I am always always ALWAYS open to ideas. Writing can be hard because it is so easy to lose inspiration. If you have any ideas at all please leave them in a review or you can email them to me. If I use your idea I will credit you in the beginning of the chapters you have helped me with. This way it is harder to lose inspiration and easier to keep a story going.)**


	31. The Shadow

Of course I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or Pirates of the Caribbean, or anything else by Disney.

Kairi woke up to a man singing, though she couldn't decipher the words. She walked out the door, and climbed the stairs onto the bow of the ship. _Oh, that explains it._ In Jacks hand, was a bottle, green, and half-full of rum. He must have heard her tiny footsteps, because he paused for a moment and turned around to acknowledge her. "Oh, mornin' darling."

"Good morning. I didn't think of you as the type to get up early." He took another very large drink of his rum before he spoke again. "Aye, that's because I never went to sleep." She half-smiled. _I should've figured as much. _

The ship came to a sudden stop. Jack's bottle fell from his hand and crashed onto the deck. Kairi grabbed hold of the side of the ship and was able to keep herself from falling, but Jack, drunk as he was, couldn't manage. He fell against the ship's wheel, then again onto the already alcohol-soaked floorboards. Kairi turned her head towards the cabin at the moment she heard eight "thuds" inside. _The sudden jolt must have woken them all up._ Sora came out from the cabin first, his hand rubbing the back of his head. "Ow." Kairi put her hand to her mouth to prevent a chuckle at Sora's expense. It didn't work. Sora heard her laugh, and walked over to kiss her. "Good morning," she said. "Yes, it is."

Jack was passed out from too much to drink, and probably sleep deprivation, so once the rest of the group was ready, Will led the way into the town of Tortuga. "Why does it look so deserted?" Kairi wondered. Sora added, "Yeah, it was so… alive last night." Will was preoccupied trying to locate where they needed to go. Elizabeth spoke up. "This town is… different." She didn't know quite how to put it, given the age of most of the guests, and the place that they all grew up in. She hoped they'd leave it at that, but leave it to Donald to question everything. "Why?" All of them waited anxiously to hear her answer. "The people who live here just like the night more than the day. They are… less obvious about things that way." Goofy turned slightly towards Elizabeth. "You mean they like the darkness more than the light?" It was more of a statement than a question, but she nodded her head in agreement.

At that, Riku's senses seemed to react very quickly. He felt just a slight breeze in his hair and turned around. Sure enough, it was a heartless. He drew his keyblade and at the sound of it, the rest of the group prepared to fight. When they saw Riku let go of his battle stance, the rest of them did as well. With his instincts about things, Riku was usually right. He turned towards them, confused. "There's only one." Then the realization that this was no ordinary heartless dawned on them all. It was not a threat, it was the short, little black shadow, the kind that had appeared on Destiny Islands the day Sora's life changed forever. It didn't even try to attack, it just moved, back and forth, back and forth, repetitively. Donald sighed. "Enough of this." He withdrew his weapon and moved towards the figure. It didn't move at all, regardless of the obviously very pissed off duck. Everyone else in the group, suspicious of what was going on, all shouted "NO!" as Donald swung his sword down onto the top of the shadow.

The heartless was not whole, Donald's sword went right through it and into the sand. Donald tried pulling it back out, unsuccessfully. Riku pulled it out and gave Donald back his weapon, though he gave him a disapproving look for going against the rest of the group. Their eyes immediately flashed from Donald and to the shadow. It moved, and not just slightly. It walked forward, slowly and carefully, it didn't bother to go around any of them, it just went right through them. It seemed to know exactly where it was going.


	32. The Last Page

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney

The heartless made its way up the hill towards the broken down building that was used as a bar the last time they were here. When they came up to the front of it, a few feet from the small door, they stopped for a second. The heartless disappeared through the door. It looked different, eerie. The building that was once made of adobe was now stones. "Wow, how did they renovate it this fast," Riku asked Will. "I don't know." They all started to take a step forward, except for Sora, who held back, pulling Kairi back as he held onto her hand. "I don't know about this. It doesn't look right." He said. The rest of the group stopped and turned to Sora as the realization struck them. Elizabeth spoke. "It may be a trap." She said, looking at Will. "What should we do?" Will pondered this for a moment, and then hugged and kissed her goodbye.

"Elizabeth, take Kairi and go back to the ship and wait for us there. Jack will keep you safe, if you can manage to wake him." A look of shock crossed Elizabeth's face. She and Kairi both spoke up. "NO!," they said in unison. "I'm sick of always being left out just because I'm a girl," She looked at Sora, knowing that he would, of course, agree with Will. "Mickey gave me a key for a reason. If I was never meant to fight, I wouldn't be able to do this…" Kairi held back her right hand, and the flowery key that she had been given before appeared in her hand. Elizabeth then turned to Will to defend herself. "And you know I can fight, Will. I've proven that." He couldn't argue, and neither could Sora. They both sighed and muttered "Fine," under their breaths.

Kairi was first to summon. She tilted her head back slightly, and let her keyblade disappear again. "Namine." When she spoke her name, Namine disappeared from the group, and Kairi started to levitate. She spun around in the air, faster and faster, until finally, her hair and skin became lighter, accompanying for Namine's presence. Her red hair became more of a strawberry blonde, and her skin became just slightly paler than usual. She stopped spinning, and let herself fall to the ground, landing on her feet smoothly. Sora never got over how graceful she looked, even when fighting, or doing something of the sort. Will shook his head quickly. "I don't believe I'll ever quite get used to that." Donald laughed. "Well, come on!" He pressed to Sora. Sora took a deep breath and then sighed. He tilted his head back, and prepared to levitate. "Roxas." Roxas, just like Namine, disappeared from the group, and Sora began to spin. His chestnut brown hair looked more like honey gold. His skin lightened as well. When he finished spinning, he too, landed. Kairi looked at Sora who looked back, each of them holding two keyblades, with a small glow emitting from them. "I'm ready." Kairi announced. Sora looked to the rest of the group, whom nodded. He looked back to Kairi. "As are we."

Donald, anxious as he is, stepped up first to open the strange door. He opened it a tiny bit, and then pushed again with his foot. The door swung open, revealing a very dark room. Will pulled a torch from a barrel near the wall and lit it. He went first, leading the way with the light. It was a long, dark hallway. Kairi began to shiver. Sora instinctively put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. There was nothing in the hallway. It was completely blank, just a stone wall on each side, and darkness coming from very deep inside the cave-like hall. Donald was afraid, as was Goofy, but they tried not to show it. Kairi watched Sora's face as they walked. He looked so strong, so courageous. _I cannot believe how much he's grown up since two years ago. It's astounding. _He looked as if he knew that there was a great chance of danger, but he kept his composure, glancing over at Kairi every now and then to be sure she was okay. Finally, a tiny flicker of light came into view at the end of the hallway. Donald prepared to run, but Riku caught him and shot him a glare. "Don't be stupid." Donald folded his arms across his chest, and looked frustrated. "Hmmph." He said. Riku just rolled his eyes. As the tiny flicker of light came closer, the shape of the light became visible. It was shaped as a keyhole. The entire thing was gold, and it glowed brightly. They were getting more anxious, but none of them went out in front of the others, aware of the danger that still may be lurking behind the invisible door covered by the large keyhole.

Kairi watched as Sora's face went completely white. He lost all color, and his eyes grew wide. She nudged him silently, not wanting to alarm the others. "What's wrong? It's just a regular keyhole, isn't it?" It took him awhile to answer. _No, this can't be it. We haven't had time to get enough help! We haven't eliminated all of the chasers!_

_Relax man,_ Roxas warned. _Don't panic yet. It may be something else._ Sora didn't have time to answer Kairi because by the time he found what to say, she understood. She saw a small figure standing to the right of the keyhole. "Mickey?" At the sound of the word, Donald and Goofy immediately ran towards him. Will and the others wanted to hold them back, but the chance of danger wasn't as high now that Mickey was around. They saw Donald and Goofy talking with Mickey. He remained composed, much like Sora, but the worried look on his face was still obvious.

As the rest of the group reached the three of them, they came to an abrupt stop. Mickey acknowledged Sora, who did the same. He then looked at the rest of them. "Hey fellas." He said politely. When they finished greeting him back, he nodded his head towards Donald and Goofy. They nodded back, professionally. "Sora," he began, "Can I speak to you privately?"

"Of course." He kissed Kairi's forehead before he followed Mickey back down the hall until they were far enough that the others couldn't hear them. "Sora, there's a problem."  
"I figured. What's wrong?" Mickey pursed his lips before speaking again. "That large keyhole" he said, motioning towards the end of the hall, "won't open."

"You tried?"

"Yes. My key has the same effect as yours does. If it cannot open for me, I don't suspect that it will open for you. But, we should try."

"Maybe it needs all four of our keys to work."

"Perhaps." Sora began walking back to the group when Mickey stopped him. "There's more." Sora leaned up against the wall ready to listen. "Do you remember the book found in the wall in Radiant Garden?"

"Um, the one about the chosen ones before us?"

"Yes…there was a part of the book that you didn't see."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well, none of us have seen it either."

"Then how do you know it's there?" Mickey pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. It looked to be torn from a book that seemed to be very old. He took a deep breath and handed it to Sora. Sora hesitated a moment, then started reading.

And so it begins again. The great

battle that will be waged

In the time of the third trial

Will not be the end of the war

But fear not, for in the end, light

Will always win. Chosen Ones whom

Lay their eyes on this book,

There will come a day when

There will be a war to end all wars.

This day will come at the time

Sora handed the page back to Mickey. "There's a page missing?"

"Yes. I believe it's the last page. We don't have it, and we don't know where it is. All we know is this: The book was, for a brief time long long ago, captured by an evil sorcerer. I think that the last page was taken from the book and passed around the darkness and its leaders. The page may lay in the hands of Maleficent." Sora sighed and his shoulders sagged. "Ah not again. I hate that stupid witch." Mickey couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. We'll find it."

"But why would he keep the last page of the book and not the whole thing?'

"Well, none of us realized that any page was missing. If we had, we would have gone looking for it sooner. If they kept the whole book, the Chosen Ones before us would have realized that it was gone. But one page missing will go unnoticed for awhile. So, they kept the most important page."

"How do you know it's the most important?"

"Read the last three lines." Sora did as he was told. "Oh. They want to know when it will come and how so they can try to stop it."

"Right."

"So how do we get the page back?"

"We must win the upcoming battle, and when we do, we must finish off Maleficent, for good."

"Ha! You know how many times I've tried to get rid of her?"

"Have faith. There is a way."


	33. White As Snow

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

Mickey began walking back towards the rest of the group and Sora followed. When they were back within hearing range, Mickey spoke again, informing the rest of the group. "Maleficent is a witch. The only way to kill a witch is to burn her." Kairi's eyes popped open and she looked at Sora. "Sora, what's wrong? What happened?" He went to stand next to her and entwined his fingers with hers. "Everything is fine. Nothing that we didn't already know."

_You lied. _

_I know, but there's no reason in scaring her. Don't think about it either, unless you want Namine to know. She can read your thoughts you know._

_Only when she's paying attention._

_Still, be careful._ Kairi looked relieved, but then her expression changed and Sora realized that Namine told her everything that she had heard in Roxas' thoughts. He sighed.

_Nice goin._

_Well she would have found out anyway._ Kairi nudged Sora. "You should have told me."

Sora started to pay attention to Mickey again. "When the time comes for battle, she will be the last thing on our minds, but we must finish her off. It is of dire importance." Mickey left out the part about the book, but Sora didn't know why he was the only one Mickey wanted to know about it. Well, him, Roxas, Namine, and Kairi. He knew about the weird mind thing they all had going on. "So Mickey, what's behind the door?"

"I don't know fellas. Prepare yourselves. Riku, Kairi, Sora." He lifted his keyblade and the other three did the same. The lock took longer than most, but eventually, the small click was heard. The wall behind the lock disappeared. Ahead of them was a large room, dark, with winding stairs. It looked almost exactly like Yen Sid's tower. "Okay", Sora murmered. "Let's go." He led the way up the winding staircase that seemed to go on forever. Behind him, was Kairi, very close, then Riku and Mickey, then Donald and Goofy, then Elizabeth, then lastly, Will. When they got to the top, there was a doorway. Sora entered the doorway, and then Kairi, but then the door slammed shut. The two of them turned around, they couldn't see or hear the rest of them. "Uh oh." Kairi looked worried. Sora didn't have anything to say to console her. He didn't know what was going on either. The circular room that lay in front of them was completely empty. "What now?," she asked him. Then, the floor began to rise up slowly. Instinctively, Sora put his arm around Kairi and pulled her behind him.

The floor stopped moving. There was another door directly in front of them, it looked like the one Mickey and Riku got stuck behind in their first adventure. Sora slowly walked up to the door, and it swung open, the air pushed them inside the door, which then slammed shut like the previous one. A dark shadow was lingering next to the wall, holding a small piece of paper, illuminating a small area around it. The strange figure stepped further and further towards them, slowly coming into view. The piece of paper nearly within their grasp, when the woman stepped close enough for them to see.

"Is this what you're looking for, young one?" The strange woman asked him. Not knowing if this woman was on his side or not, he answered. "Yes. Who are you?" He looked to Kairi's face. She had an evil scowl on her face glaring towards the woman. "I'm the queen of a far away land." At this, he knew.

_Maleficent's evil twin._

_Might as well be._ The woman grinned, then glared at them and threw the piece of paper into a mirror right behind her. "Then go get it." She laughed evily as again, the wind sucked them both into the mirror.

Sora opened his eyes and touched the back of his head. "Ow. Must've been a rough landing." He looked around for Kairi, but she was nowhere to be seen. Immediately he went into panic mode. He moved around in a circle first, then ran towards the castle, thinking that's where she would be. "Wrong way darling." He looked around for the evil queen who'd said that, but he couldn't see her either. He only heard her voice, it sounded far away, like it was coming from the sky above him. "Stupid Witch." He muttered. "I heard that," she said, "But actually, I'm just the Queen." He gritted his teeth together. "I'm seriously sick of you evil witches taking Kairi hoping that it will get to me. I will find her, and when I do, I will find you and kill you." She laughed. "So much anger for a sixteen-year old boy. You'll find her. And with her, you'll find the small piece of parchment you seek, but first, you'll need to play _my_ game." She laughed again, and then the voice was gone. "Crap." He kicked a rock. "Now how did that story go, I can't remember…"

_I do. You have to go to the castle. You have to watch it for yourself. _ Sora listened to Roxas. He ran as fast as his legs could take him towards the castle, he then ran up the stairs to the top of the tower, where he was stopped by an invisible forcefield. He stopped and listened to the story taking place. "Mirror mirror on the wall, tell me, who is the fairest one of all?" Sora watched as the mirror spoke back to the evil woman who had thrown them into this story. "Her cheeks are red as roses , and skin as white as snow." The queen's face went angry. "SNOW WHITE!" She yelled. Then he watched as a chubby black-haired man was summoned into the room. "Go take her into the woods to pick wildflowers. And when she is not looking, kill her!"

"But your majesty, the princess…"

"You know what the punishment is if you fail." The man reluctantly took a small box from the Queen's hand meant for Snow White's heart and walked out of the room. Just then, the force field went up, and the Queen spoke to Sora, from outside again. "You must get to Snow White before he kills her. If you fail, you will never see your princess again." He knew she was going to try to make it impossible for him to get to her in time. Heartless came up from the ground and began to attack, there were so many of them. He used all his strength and cast different magic spells to hopefully get rid of them faster. Eventually, they were gone, and he saw the forcefield disintegrate. _Hurry!_

_Roxas! I have an idea._ Sora tilted his head back and said the name Roxas. He spun into the air and he and Roxas both landed out on the ground in separate bodies. "How is this going to help?"

"The Queen doesn't know there are two of us. Follow me and I'll explain when we get there." The two boys ran out of the castle down to the forest. They smacked into another forcefield to see the black-haired man drop the knife. "Your majesty, forgive me, she wants you killed! Run, child, run!" Snow White ran into the forest as fast as possible, the man left the scene and more heartless popped up. "Roxas, take care of them!" Roxas nodded, understanding his plan. Sora darted into the woods after Snow White.

_No, go to the mine! Talk to the dwarfs!_

_Good idea. _Sora sprinted towards the cottage, and once it came into view, he went slightly to the right to another direction. He ran up the hillside, and once he reached a small wooden arch, he knew he was at the front of the mine. He heard whistling, and guessed that they were about to come out. The leader of them stopped when he saw Sora. They looked afraid. "Hey, I'm Sora. Don't be scared, I just need to talk to you." They still looked a little suspicious of him, so he began to tell them his story. "I'm looking for a girl, about sixteen, red-haired, fair skinned. Have you seen her? I'm getting really worried." The leader answered. "There hasn't been a girl in this area in a long time. Sorry, son."

"It's okay, but do you mind if I follow you, I don't know these woods very well."

"Be my guest. I'm Doc, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Doc introduced the rest of the dwarfs behind him. They began to march again, towards the cottage, he guessed. He followed close behind them.

They got back to their cottage and wondered why the lights were on. "There's trouble-a-brewin," once of them warned. Sora knew it was Snow White. "Um, I don't think whatever is in there is trouble, look." He motioned to the inside of the house. The seven small heads reached up to peek inside. "It looks clean." One of them said. They walked inside, and still a little afraid, snuck around the first floor of the cottage to look around. Sora knew it was unnecessary, but he didn't want to let them in on what exactly was going on. It was outside the plot, and he was told never to meddle in the plot of a story. "It's been swept!" One of them revealed. They sent the one named Dopey up the stairs to see what this "monster" was. A moment later, Dopey came tumbling down the stairs, afraid. Sora thought it was only Snow White, but if Dopey was afraid, maybe there was a heartless up there. Sora blew past them, running up the stairs. Don't worry, I'll take care of this! He got up the stairs and saw what scared Dopey. "Oh, she looks like a ghost when she stretches with the sheets." The girl stirred. He didn't want to wake her up, so he went back and motioned them all to come up. He saw as they got their weapons ready, still thinking she was a monster, not knowing it was a girl under the covers. Just as he was about to demand them to stop, they lifted the sheet, and froze in place. "Why, it's only a girl!" Doc explained. She stirred again, and she woke up and greeted them. They were still a little afraid, or shy, maybe. She guessed their names. After they were all introduced, Grumpy began trying to convince them that she cannot stay, because the Queen would find out, and kill them as well. But after she revealed that she could cook, the other six of them jumped up and said "She stays!" Then she saw Sora. "And who are you? You don't look like the rest of them." Sora stepped up and held out his hand. "I'm Sora. I'm uh… looking for somebody."

"Really, who?"

"A girl about your age, with red hair."

"Oh, well I haven't seen her, but don't worry, you'll find her."

_I hope I find her in time. Roxas? How's it goin?_

_I finished them off, I'm on my way back to the castle. I think she'll find out soon__._ "Well, won't you stay? I made enough food for everyone, and a little extra." Sora politely agreed, as long as he was in the story, nothing could happen, it was if the story got ahead of him that he had trouble.

Sora hadn't eaten in awhile, so he had three helpings. When he was finished, he thanked her and the seven dwarfs for the food and for their time. "Do you need a place to sleep too, son?" Doc asked him. He wasn't sure. Then Roxas popped into his head. _Sora, you'd better get over here._ "No thanks, I've got to search for my girlfriend." He saw the confused look on their faces. _Oh right, that term hasn't been thought of yet._ "I'm looking for the girl I seek, I mean."

"Oh, well you be careful." Snow White told him.

"Thankyou." He knew he'd soon be back, but they didn't know that, so he told them goodbye and thanked them again.


	34. Apprehension

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**_

Sora ran as fast as he could back towards the castle. _This is getting very tiring._ He finally saw a dark building in the distance._ Finally._ He got to the castle and ran up the familiar stairs, into yet another forcefield. He met Roxas there. The two of them watched as the evil Queen walked towards the mirror again. "Mirror mirror, on the wall, now who is the fairest one of all?"

"Deep in the forest, in a cottage with the seven dwarfs, dwells Snow White, still, the fairest one of all." The Queen became angry, the forcefield let up as soon as the Queen entered the room that adjoined the one they were in. Heartless came up from the ground again. Both of them fought as fast as they could, they had to be back at the cottage before Snow White ate the apple. They couldn't stop her, that would be meddling. But as the Queen on the other side of the mirror said, they must follow the story to find Kairi and the last page of the book.

They fought off the Heartless just in time to see the Queen's transformation into the Peddler's Disguise. "Sleeping Death", she muttered and lauged an evil laugh. _Stupid old hag._

_I couldn't agree more._

_There she goes! We have to beat her back. Come on._ Sora and Roxas took off towards the forest again. They heard sounds coming from the cottage once they were halfway into the woods, so they knew they weren't too late yet. They peeked into the window when they got there. Grumpy was playing music on an organ, Snow White was clapping her hands and watching the other six dwarfs dance around the living area. They both laughed outside the window while they watched the entertaining scene. Then the dwarfs asked her to do something. "What shall I do?"

"Tell us a story", one suggested.

"Tell us a love story", said another. She began to sing about the prince she met by the wishing well, a scene that Sora and Roxas hadn't watched. They listened the story. "I hope she finds him again." Sora told Roxas. Roxas slapped him in the back of the head playfully. "Uh, Dummy! You've heard the story. You know what happens." Sora blushed, embarrassed that he forgot. "Oh yeah."

The clock on the wall struck eleven, and the men insisted that the princess sleep in their beds. She agreed and went upstairs and the men settled down downstairs and fell asleep. Roxas yawned. "We should sleep too."

"We're most vulnerable when sleeping though." Sora rebutted.

"She can't touch us from the other side of the mirror, and her character in the story doesn't know we're here." Sora realized Roxas was right, and they both found a tree to sleep against. Sora heard Roxas snoring. _He must be asleep. Now I can be alone in my thoughts without him interrupting them and giving me his unwanted opinion._ Sora chuckled in his head. He began to think, of course, about Kairi. The first time they met, the first time they all played together on the island, the first time he knew he had a crush on her, the first time he knew he loved her, the first time he saved her, and the first time he kissed her. These thoughts brought him enough peace to let him sleep through the night without waking up constantly, worrying.

He woke up to the sound of the cottage door creaking. He heard Doc explain to Snow White, "The Queen is a witch, beware of strangers."

"Don't worry, I'll be all right." He wished she was right, but he knew the Queen was on her way with the apple. The men went off to work and Snow White went back inside. Just a few minutes after they were gone, Roxas nudged Sora and nodded his head to the left. The Queen was just beyond the creek, making her way towards the house. Sora almost leapt from the bushes, but Roxas held him back. "You can't meddle."

"It's hard not to in this case! She is about to poison the princess and I can stop it!"

"I know, but we can't change the plot of a story, you know that. Just try not to watch, that's what I'll be doing." Sora nodded his head once and looked towards the ground, his head hidden behind the bushes with Roxas', out of the Queens view. They heard Snow White's gasp and looked up. The Queen was there in the window, looking at the princess. They kept having to remind themselves not to watch. The birds knocked the apple out of the old woman's hand. _Yeah! Way to go!_

_Shh._ She shooed them away, and helped the "old lady" as she called her, into the house to get her some water. When they saw the animals run off to get the dwarfs, they knew it was about to happen.

They saw Snow White take the apple from the old woman's hand as they heard the deer footsteps in the distance. They kept hoping they would make it in time, even though in the back of their heads they knew it wasn't going to happen that way. They watched her take the bite of the apple, and looks of horror crossed their faces. _I knew I shouldn't have looked._

_I did too._ "Oh, I feel strange", Snow White told the woman. They looked away once more, and then heard the Queen's evil laugh as she came out from the cottage. They saw the dwarfs chase the Queen just a short ways to the edge of a cliff, and they both quietly celebrated when the Queen fell to her death. They kept quiet when the men came back and found Snow White, but they snuck up to the window to see the memorial service they were doing for her. They saw the tears in the eyes of the men as they watched Snow White, sleeping heavily. Even the animals were upset, they bowed their heads in grief, watching through the open doorway.

The dwarfs waited until morning to bring her out in her glass coffin, into the woods and away from the house. They could not find it in their hearts to bury her though. Knowing that the prince would soon find out, Sora and Roxas waited with the dwarfs, claiming they needed a place to stay for awhile, until they found the girl they were searching for. The dwarfs happily obliged. And although the story continued, and the seasons changed, the outside world was frozen in time for as long as Sora and Roxas and Kairi and Namine were in the story. So they waited, until finally the prince found where Snow White slept. They accompanied the animals and the dwarfs with the prince to the glass coffin she lay in. _Only to be awoken by love's first kiss_, Sora remembered. He watched the prince as he mourned for her. Thinking that she would not awaken, he thought about kissing her for the first and last time. It didn't take long. The prince walked over to Snow White, and bent over to kiss her very softly and swiftly, then kneeled beside her to mourn again. No one expected her to awaken, so when she did, they were ecstatic. As Snow White saw who had saved her, she reached her arms out and he took her in his arms. The dwarfs danced around as did the animals.

The prince lifted up Snow White on his horse, and she kissed the dwarfs goodbye and waved goodbye to Sora and Roxas. They watched, with the dwarfs and the animals, the prince lead the horse that carried Snow White off into the distance. Sora and Roxas told the dwarfs they knew where to find the girl now, and thanked them for their hospitality. They smiled and said goodbye and walked off back to their cottage.

The meadow was empty now, and Sora and Roxas turned to the coffin that held Snow White until the prince came. They turned and saw who they expected to see. Kairi. Sora walked over to her and watched her sleeping peacefully. "Sora!" Roxas screamed. It was the Queen, only it was her heart and soul living in a shadow. Another chaser. They both prepared for battle. They swung at her and missed several times, their strength growing weaker. This was one of the most difficult they had fought so far. The sound of metal clashing with sand was abundant in the meadow, but still no one except them seemed to be able to hear it. They were wearing her down, though, that they could tell.

The battle lasted an hour, longer than any of the rest, but finally, the chaser disappeared, and another missing key fell onto the ground. Sora willed it back to Disney Castle, so that it could be equipped to another soldier of the light. They took a few deep breaths, then went back to where Kairi lay. There, on her chest where her heart was, was the last page of the book, the page they needed. Sora was about to kiss her, when he stopped and looked at Roxas. "I don't think it will work." Roxas looked shocked. "Why not?"

"I've kissed her before. This is supposed to be love's first kiss." Roxas looked relieved after Sora mentioned that. "This is a storybook. It has no record that you've kissed Kairi. As long as you haven't kissed her inside this story yet, it's still love's first kiss."

"How do you know all this?" Roxas looked as surprised as Sora was. "I don't know." Sora grinned and then went back to Kairi. He bent over to kiss her, much like the prince did to Snow White, but longer. His lips were still on hers when she awoke. When he realized this he backed away. She woke up, she saw the paper and put it in her pocket. She obviously had no recollection of what had happened. "Sora? Why am I lying in a coffin?" She looked a little worried. "Well, you're not dead." She gave him a look and said "Well yeah, apparently." She was joking with him, being sarcastic. He put his arm around her and helped her up. "I'll explain it on the way back."

They began walking towards the castle once again, where Sora had first landed. When they got there, the mirror they came in through appeared. They closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, they were back on the platform they started on, facing the Queen. "Hmph. You were stronger than I thought. No normal soldier of the light would be able to bear seeing someone being hurt and not being able to do anything about it. Any other soldier of the light would have intervened, thus killing the girl." She looked angry. "Maleficent was right." She looked even angrier now. She looked as if she were about to summon heartless to attack, but she was interrupted when Maleficent appeared behind her. "You IDIOT!" She told the Queen. "I told you not to underestimate the little bilge rat did I not?" "I WARNED you not to test him until the time was right, now everything is ruined!" Maleficent tilted her staff towards the Queen, who then burned into the ground. "Nuisance." She said after the Queen was dead. She then turned back to Sora and Kairi. Roxas joined Sora's body again after Kairi and Namine awoke from their slumber.

"Now, don't think I'm through with you yet," she warned. "There may be a battle between darkness and light, and maybe I won't be able to stop it. But I will make sure neither of you are there to see it. This isn't over." She was about to disappear into the dark portal behind her when she was hit on the head with a large, empty, green bottle. The bottle cracked and fell to the floor. She got up off the floor, and looked at who hit her. "HMPH," she said as she stormed back into the portal. When she was gone, Sora and Kairi glanced to see who hit her as well. They saw Jack, still slightly drunk, they could tell by the way his body was moving side to side. "I never liked her." He said, slurring his words. They all laughed a little bit, then noticed the rest of the group standing in front of them, behind Jack. "What happened?" They asked. Sora and Kairi looked around, to see if there was more for them to do here, but there was nothing. No doors, and the platform had already been moved back to where it started before they came back through the mirror, so there was no more danger here. "We'll explain it on the way back to the ship." The last page of the book was still in Kairi's pocket…


	35. The Kraken

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**

Namine separated from Kairi's body and Roxas separated from Sora's. "Ah, it's nice to be free," he said. "I know what you mean."

"So what happened?" Riku asked. Sora looked at him and began to explain everything. As he talked everyone listened in for themselves. "Okay, so did you get a key from the chaser?" Mickey asked.

"Yes, and the dwarfs agreed to fight in our battle."

"Great. Welp, I guess I should be gettin' back to Disney Castle to oversee how things are going there. Did you happen to find the last page of the book?"

"Oh, yeah. What happened to it?" Sora began to check his pockets. Kairi reached into hers and pulled out the page and handed it to King Mickey. "Thanks Kairi." She nodded. "Do you need me to read it before you leave?" Sora asked the king.

"No, you need to focus on getting the keys, but you will need to read it, so when it's necessary, I'll summon you to the castle. When I do that, do you think the rest of you could handle the world your in by yourselves?" He asked the rest of the group. Riku replied, "No problem. We got this." Donald eyed him.

"Alright, this is where I'm at. Sora, I'll see you in a while."

"Okay Your Majesty." He replied. The king carefully put the fragile piece of paper in his pocket. Sora saw as the door to the king's gummi ship opened and he laughed when he saw the chipmunks as the king's drivers. The king gave them one last wave and jumped into his ship.

The rest of the group made their way back to the Pearl, where they would be on their way back to Port Royal. Jack knew there was going to be a problem. The Kraken was loose in the sea. He kept this from the rest of them. "Jack, nice job hitting that old hag in the head with your empty bottle," Roxas congratulated him.

"Yeah I do that all the time," he said, his speech still slurring.

Elizabeth looked at Roxas and nodded. "He does." Kairi laughed as did Namine. Roxas came over in front of Namine and she hopped on his back and he began to run. "Hey wait up!" Donald shouted. He hated being left behind. He ran after them, and Goofy followed.

Once they all got back to the ship, Will took the wheel and Jack passed out yet again on the ground, fresh bottle of rum in-hand. Namine took Roxas' hand and led him in the cabin of the ship with a sly smile on her face. They shut the door. Donald looked in the window, being nosy. "EW!!!! Their faces look like they are glued together!" Kairi laughed. Sora was busy watching Will steer the ship. "Can I try?" Will eyed him cautiously. "Of course, just watch out, sometimes there are things in the water that you can't see." Sora smiled widely as he took the wheel. Kairi watched as the wind blew in his hair, making it look like he just woke up. _For some reason I like the way he looks like that. _Kairi was busy thinking about what life will be like after they finish this battle. _I wonder if there will be something else Sora will have to do after this, or will he get to have a normal life? We'll be seventeen next year, we'll need to get back to high school as soon as possible if we want to finish on time. _Kairi thought about things like school, playing back on the beach at Destiny Islands, the seaside shack, the cove, and found herself dozing off against the wall of the ship. She began to dream:

Kairi was standing on the edge of the dirt border that went around the small waterfall. She saw herself as a child, about eight, playing in the water just ahead of her with a small brown-haired boy. She guessed he was probably Sora. He looked taller than she was, though she was always the taller one until he got his growth spurt at fourteen, making them the same he shot up another few inches at fifteen, making him a few inches taller than her. "That's odd," she thought. "Oh well." She wanted to get a closer look, so she started walking towards the edge of the water to see the small kids playing, splashing each other in the water. "I wonder where Riku is, he's usually with us." Kairi's eyes got wider with fascination when she got close enough to tell that the little girl wasn't her at all…

Kairi jolted awake when she felt a jerk. "Jack better not be steering drunk again." She got up slowly and heard Sora call "KAIRI!" She turned around slowly to see a large, black octopus, it's stomach facing towards her. She immediately summoned her keyblade, and Namine ran out with Roxas, their keyblades in their hands. Sora flew across the ship and slashed the octopus across the stomach, making it contract. It came back quickly, and his eyes grew wide in horror when he saw the large mark across its stomach heal before his eyes. "How do we kill it?" He shouted towards Will. "It's the Kraken, boy! You have to dismember all of it's tentacles before anything has any type of effect on it!" Will ran below the deck of the ship and Sora thought he wimped out, until he saw a huge cannonball go flying through the window below them, knocking off one of the long tentacles belonging to the black version of the Kraken. "Why is it black?" He heard Elizabeth ask Jack. He didn't awaken so she kicked him in the stomach, making his body form into the fetal position. This finally woke him. "What's wrong with you darlin'?" He demanded. She scowled at him and pointed towards the monster. "Oh, blimey." He stumbled to his feet and went beneath the deck of the ship to assist Will. Elizabeth followed. "Well, we're not doing any good up here," Goofy stated. Sora nodded quickly and grabbed Kairi, tossing her onto his back. Roxas did the same with Namine, and they went beneath the ship with Goofy, Donald, and Riku trailing them.

"Sora!" Will called. "Go to that cannon over there!" He nodded his head to the right. Sora gently lifted Kairi off of his shoulders and sprinted to the cannon. Kairi watched as he effortlessly lifted the cannonball in to the cannon, his muscles flexing. She lit a match that she found on the floor next to the cannon and lit the string at the end, sending the ball flying out the window. They felt the ship rock back and forth. "Hurry lads!" Jack demanded. "I'm sick of losing my ship!" Elizabeth glared at him, angry that _that_ of all things is what he was worried about. In a couple more minutes, the limbs were blown off of the black, now round, shadow. As soon as the last cannon launched, Will hurried up to the deck of the ship, prompting the others to follow. They got to the top of the ship, and Sora and Kairi summoned their Nobodies. Five keyblades, three swords, a shield, a staff, and a little bit of magic did the trick, without taking very long at all. When it was over, Will let his sword fall to the ground. "Wow, that's _much_ easier with the seven of you. Thanks."

"No problem" Sora replied.

"And I suppose you'll be askin' us to assist you in your upcoming fight, then?" Elizabeth inquired anxiously.

"Please, it would really help us out." She nodded and Will agreed as well. Jack was a little bit more reluctant, but he also agreed. "Will there be rum?"

"Um, no, I'll think you'll need to bring your own. But you probably shouldn't. You'll need your focus." Riku told him.

"Rats." After Jack said that, a loud clinging sound came from up the stairs, where the wheel was. Sora was first to run up the stairs. "A key!" He picked it up and held it in his right hand behind him and closed his eyes. The key disappeared. "Magnificent." Elizabeth hadn't seen that little trick. The ship seemed to go faster after the key was willed back towards the castle, and they arrived back at Port Royal sooner than expected. "How will we know when to leave?"

"How will we get there?"

"How much rum will I need?" All three of them asked a question. Sora answered the first two. "You'll both be summoned to Disney Castle when the time is right."

"So don't be afraid if your bodies suddenly disappear into thin air, that's how it works." Roxas added. Jack was the only one that seemed to find this funny, the other two thought it interesting.

They all said goodbye and thanked them again for agreeing to fight on the side of the light. They nodded and thanked them back for helping them defeat the Kraken, for now. "We'll see you for the final battle," Kairi called back. The seven of them climbed into the crowded gummi ship, which began spinning, then disappeared. In the air, or space, rather, Riku asked, "So, where to?" Sora touched a small button on the screen while driving. "AW COOL!" He shouted. Donald rolled his eyes. Kairi touched Sora's shoulders. "What?" He turned to her and told her, "Atlantica."


	36. Atlantica: Sort of

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**

The small blue world named Atlantica was starting to come into view from the gummi ship. Sora held Kairi's hand as the ship began to spin, the way it always did when they were about to land in a world. They all closed their eyes. Their landing in Atlantica was not one that they'd expected. Sora looked down, expecting a fin, but instead, seeing his shoes. "What? I don't understand…" Donald and Goofy had the same expressions on their faces, but Riku had no clue what they were talking about. Kairi knew, because Namine knew, and Namine knew because Roxas knew, and Roxas was a part of Sora.

"Yeah, where are our fins?" Donald asked, frustrated. "Hyuck, but Donald, you didn't have fins," Goofy chimed in. Sora looked at Riku and Kairi. "Yeah, Donald was a turtle." They laughed and Donald crossed his arms to pout. "Well anyway," Sora continued. "This doesn't look like Atlantica."

"That's because it's not." A young voice answered. They turned around to see a huge white castle with red tops. They were in the backyard, they guessed. Right in front of them stood a black-haired girl, who couldn't be more than twelve years old. "I'm Melody. Who are you?"

"I'm Sora, this is Riku, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, Namine, and Kairi." He said pointing to each of them when he spoke their names. "Hi." They all added. "This isn't Atlantica. My mom says that's just a fairytale. But the beach is behind that wall right there." She said, pointing behind them. Riku asked, "Um, how do we get there?"

"Come on, I'll show you!" She pulled the tie out of her hair and let it fall down. Then she dove into the mote surrounding the castle. Riku followed her, then Donald and Goofy. Sora and Kairi summoned Roxas and Namine, just in case they ran into trouble on the other side of the wall. _There's something oddly familiar about that girl, but I don't think I've ever met her._ Sora thought.

On the other side of the wall Sora swam to a rock that he saw a small red crab sitting on. "Sebastian!" He swam faster till he got to the rock. "Oh hi Sora, Donald, Goofy, and who's this?"

"I'm Riku, Sora's friend."

"And I'm Kairi, Sora's girlfriend."

"Oh how cute," Sebastian said sarcastically. Sora shot him a glare, but a playful one. "What are you doing here? Where's Ariel? And Atlantica?" Sebastian looked panicked when Sora asked this question. He said, "I don't know what you're talking about, there is no Atlantica." He then winked at Sora. Melody was too busy swimming to notice. "Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" Riku asked, frustrated. "Okay, right this way. Skuttle, watch the girl." Sebastian swam to the shore and the others followed. All except for Melody and Donald, who was distracting her, acting like he didn't know how to swim. "Ariel doesn't want Melody knowin about dee sea." Sebastian told them. "Ariel? How does Melody know Ariel?"

"Melody is Ariel and Prince Eric's daughter." He answered.

"Oh." They all said. "But how…" Sora began. "I mean, how can she have a teen daughter, we saw her last year, and we only aged a year." Goofy looked at Sora. "Different worlds have different times."

"Oh." He said. "So one year in our world is like ten in Atlantica?" Sebastian answered him, "Somedin like dat."

"How come Ariel doesn't want Melody to know where she came from?" Kairi asked him.

"Ursula's evil sister, Morgana, wants to use Melody to get to da king's trident. She wants to put her in danger."

"That's terrible!"

"Yeah, so you see, she don't got much of a choice." Sebastian looked out towards Melody. "Melody! Don't forget about dee party!" They saw her head pop out of the water. "Oh yeah, coming!" She again led them under the water and through the iron fence at the bottom of the wall, removing a broken piece to get them by. They laughed as they saw her sneak in through the window. "Are you guys coming?" She asked. "No, I think we'll just go ring the doorbell," Sora answered. He motioned the others to follow him.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! What a nice surprise! Come in," Ariel greeted them. "What brings you to Atlantica?"  
"Trouble, I guess. What's been goin on?"

"Well, I have a daughter now, her names Melody," They let her talk about Melody and then introduce her to them, not wanting Ariel to know that Melody was in the ocean. That would be meddling. "Nice to meet you." Riku winked at her, she shook his hand and said the same, pretending she was just meeting them, too. "Won't you join the party? There's plenty to eat, and drink, and some good music and guests."

"We'd love to if that's ok with you, your Majesty." Donald told her. She laughed. "Of course it is! Will you need a place to stay overnight as well? We have plenty of space."

"If it's not too much trouble," Sora told her.

"Not at all. Follow me so I can show you your rooms, then we can get back to the party. It's Melody's twelfth birthday, you know." She walked up the stairs, leading the five of them as well. She turned to the left when she got to the top of the stairs. She pointed to the right, "Down that hall are mine and Eric's room, Melody's room, and the servants' rooms." Then she began walking to the left. The first door on the right would be Donald's room. The first on the left would be Goofy's. Then the second door on the right would be Kairi's, and the second on the left, Riku's. She opened each door to show them. Then she walked down the rest of the hall, skipping a few doors, and walked up another small set of stairs at the end of the hall. "And since you're the key weilder, you will need this room. It overlooks the ocean, just in case there's trouble." She opened the door to Sora's room and they all went inside. The room was large, with a bed facing west on the eastern side of the room. Directly in front of them, to the north, was the ocean, waves lapping up against the shore beautifully. There were a few paintings on the wall, a desk, and a private bathroom and private balcony overlooking the ocean. "Wow." He said. Donald pouted again, jealous. Ariel kissed Donald's forehead and he calmed down. _Such a wuss_, Roxas said in Sora's head, referring to Donald._ Shh._

They went back down to the party, just in time to see a small blonde boy ask Melody to dance. They watched and noticed Sebastian tied into Melody's dress. "Uh oh," Riku said. "Yeah," Sora agreed. Suddenly, Sebastian bit the boy's finger in an attempt to get loose. This caused the boy to flip out, crashing into the table of refreshments, and Sebastian flew up into the air and landed on to the beautiful birthday cake being brought out. Sora stifled a laugh. Kairi felt horrible for the poor girl. She ran up the stairs crying and Ariel ran after her. Kairi was about to go as well to try to comfort her, but Namine warned her._ Give Ariel a chance to talk to her alone, then you can go in._

_Yeah, you're right._

_Of course I am._ Kairi rolled her eyes.

After the party guests all returned home, Ariel came out of her daughter's room. "How is she?" Kairi asked.

"She's been better." She seemed worried about something, but she didn't press any further. She saw her take Eric's hand and they walked into their room. "I'm going to go and talk to her." She said to Sora. He nodded and kissed her goodnight. Kairi waited until all four of them went into their rooms before she walked up the stairs on the right to Melody's.

She knocked on the door before opening it and coming in. "Melody?" She said, closing the door behind her. She saw Melody try to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. She immediately felt sad too, feeling bad for Melody. "Mind if I sit?" She asked, motioning to the bed next to Melody. "No, go ahead." Kairi sat down and twisted her body towards Melody. "I can't imagine how you felt back there. I would have thrown up," she said, trying to make Melody laugh. It didn't. "Are you alright now?"

"Not really. No one understands."

"I do. The teenage years are hard. I'm still in them myself."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Lucky. You're almost done." She laughed. "Hardly, I've still got three years to go before I'm done with this."

"Yeah, I know. Was it as bad as I thought it was back there?"

"It was pretty bad, but don't feel embarrassed. They weren't laughing at you, they were laughing at that little red thing." Kairi had trouble remembering his name. This time, Melody laughed. "Sebastian," she corrected her. "Sebastian," Kairi repeated. "It's not just that. Sometimes I begin to think that even my mom doesn't get it."

"Why do you say that?"

"I feel like the sea is a part of me, I don't know why I feel that way, but I do. And she won't allow me anywhere near water." Kairi didn't know what to say. She knew why, but she couldn't say anything to the girl because she was not permitted to meddle. "Sometimes our parents have reasons that they don't feel comfortable telling us yet."

"Why not?"  
"That's…" She thought about it. "That's a good question. I'm not entirely sure." It was quiet for a moment. "So you are the brown-haired boy's girlfriend?" Kairi felt her cheeks fill with blood. "Yes."

"He's cute. You guys make a good couple."

"Thanks." She said, still blushing and smiling.

"I wish there was someone like that for me."

"There will be," Kairi reassured her. "You're only twelve. Sometimes it takes awhile to find him, but you will."

"How do you know that?"

"You're pretty, and you're nice, and you're kindhearted. Don't worry, you'll find him."

"Thanks." Melody looked a bit better. "Okay, well I'm a little tired now, so if you're feeling better I'll be going to bed."

"Okay." Kairi got up and was about to open the door to leave. "Kairi?" She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. For talking to me, I mean. It helps, having someone closer to your own age to talk to."

"I know it does. And you're welcome. Anytime. Goodnight." She shut the door behind her and looked up to walk back towards her room. A shadow stood over her, moving closer and closer.


	37. Together, Alone

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

"Oh my God Sora you scared me!" She said as her took her in his arms. "Sorry," he said, resting his cheek against the top of her head. He kissed her hair. She noticed then something felt different about the way he hugged her. She noticed then that his shirt was off. The feel of his warm, perfectly toned, bare torso against her body was overwhelming. She didn't want to let go, but knew she had to. "Wanna come swim with me?" He asked her. _Oooh, that explains the no shirt._ She _was_ tired, but the idea of actually getting some time alone with her boyfriend, with their nobodies asleep, was tempting. "Um, yes. Just let me get changed." He nodded. "I'll meet you in the back." She watched him run out the large back glass doors. _Oh wow._ She said. She noticed how his muscles flexed underneath his bare skin. He had strong arms and shoulders. She liked that. _Get a hold of yourself. You've seen him without his shirt before,_ she told herself. But then she convinced herself that it didn't matter, he'd gotten strong, he'd grown, he wasn't the skinny little boy he used to be.

Kairi changed into her swimming suit, a baby blue bikini with black trim around it. She stopped to glance at herself in the mirror in the vanity that was next to her restroom. "Okay," she said. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body before she went back out. She walked out the back door and saw him there, wading in the water, trying to get used to its frigidness. "Cold?" She called out after him. He looked back at her, his teeth chattering, "No…" He lied. _I don't want her to know I'm cold, but DAMN I'm COLD!!!_ He shouted in his head. _Roxas?_ There was no answer. _I guess we truly do get to be alone tonight. No nobodies in our heads. _ He sighed in relief. He turned around, about to ask Kairi if she could hear Namine, but then he caught sight of her, and the words escaped him. "Uh…" He started to say, but not loud of enough for her to hear him, then he just stopped trying. The sight of her was incredible. He saw her cautiously remove the towel wrapped around her small body, and drape it over a tree. She smiled at him and began walking towards him. _Okay, how do I move again?_ He was frozen. He'd seen her in a bathing suit before, but she was a girl then, she'd grown into a woman now. Her hair was down and wavy, part of it covering her face. Her skin was ivory, flawless, silky-looking all over. She was slender, but not skinny like she used to be. Now, instead of seeing her skin stretched tight over her bones, he saw her skin stretched tight over her toned body. He couldn't see any of her bones underneath her skin, she must have toned her body by working out so much learning to fight the previous summer. Or maybe she'd just grown into her body. The way she walked was hypnotizing, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. All of her curves were accentuated beautifully, and the most enticing thing about her to Sora was that, she wasn't conceited at all. She wasn't self-conscious, but she didn't act like she knew just how beautiful she was, but he did. He was still staring, jaw dropped, as she put her first foot into the cold water.

It took awhile for them to get used to the water, it being slightly over fifty degrees Fahrenheit. She was first to take the brave step of submerging her head. That's where it was coldest. He watched her head go under water and pop up again, three feet away from where she was previously standing. _She looks… amazing. Even when her hair is wet, even when her makeup is washed away. If it were possible, I'd say she looked even more appealing now than before she got into the water._ "Are you coming?"He struggled finding the word. _Okay, what is that word I'm supposed to say, starts with a y…_ He was still too mesmerized by her perfect being to think of the word, so he just nodded his head. He ducked under water, swimming after her. She stopped at a rock that was slanted, but flat on top. It was only twenty or thirty feet from the shore, not too far. She climbed on top and patted the empty space on the rock next to her, smiling. He climbed up too, and the both lay down, their heads on the upper part of the slanted rock, their feet on the lower. Kairi nestled closer to his body, but still faced upward, looking at the stars. He wrapped his arms around her, and they stayed that way for a good half hour, under the stars in the heavens above them.

It was only then that he realized she'd fallen asleep. They were silent for the majority of the time they spent together, alone, on that rock, so it took him a few minutes to notice. He kissed the top of her head, smelling the scent of her hair. It smelled like jasmine and rose, with a small hint of the smell of the sea. After this he sighed and hopped off the rock, knowing it was time they go back. He would have stayed like that, with her sleeping in his arms, her warm body next to his, forever if he could have. He gently placed her on his back, and subconsciously, she put her arms around his neck. He waded back to the shore with her on his back, moving ever so slowly, trying not to wake her. He picked up her towel, he didn't bring one for him, and draped it across his arm, while he opened the door with his other arm.

He made sure to shut the door as quietly as possible. He opened her bedroom door quietly, also. He lay her down on her bed on one side, and unfolded the comforter and sheets on the other, then placed her on the other side that he had unfolded for her, and tucked her in. He kissed her forehead one last time, and turned to leave, to go back to his own room. When he turned off the light, he heard her stir, and he looked over to see her eyes open slightly. "Sora?" She said so quietly. "Yes?"

"Will you stay with me tonight?" She asked while pulling the comforter closer to her. He smiled. He was hoping she would ask. He liked the feeling of having her asleep in his arms. He felt his way back to the bed through the now-dark room, and pulled the comforter out on the other side of the bed and got in. He moved closer to her, and once again put his arms around her, nestling her closer to him as they slept peacefully through the night.

Kairi woke up in the morning and could tell by the uneven breathing that Sora was awake as well. She didn't know if he knew that little trick, so she pretended to still be sleeping, so she could stay this close to him, in his arms, for a little longer. There was a loud, urgent knock on the door, and Sora ducked under the covers, he didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Kairi plopped herself up as the door came open. "Kairi?" It was Ariel, she seemed panicked. "Have you seen Melody? Nobody can find her!" She rubbed her eyes. "No, I haven't. I'll help you look." Kairi climbed out of the bed, careful not to pull the covers off of Sora when she pulled them off of herself, also not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. She got up quickly and threw a shirt on over her bikini top and pulled her skirt on over her bikini bottom. She ran a brush quickly through her still-damp hair and ran out the door. Sora got up then, and climbed out the window, and climbed back in through the window in his room. He dressed quickly as well, and as soon as he was about to open the door, Eric opened it. "Hey Sora, Melody's missing. Have you seen her?" He looked afraid. "No, I'm so sorry. I can help you look for her." Eric nodded to say thanks and Sora followed him.

When Eric and Sora got outside, everyone was already at the beach. He saw Ariel talking to King Trident. They ran faster. When they got there, King Trident told Ariel it would be helpful if she helped the water search, and Eric would stay on land to lead the land search. She kissed Eric goodbye, and watched as her feet turned into a long fin. She jumped into the water. King Trident looked at the rest of them. "You," he said, pointing to Donald and Goofy, "Stay here and help Eric on land. You five," he said addressing the rest of them, "Help us in the water." Roxas and Namine had separated from Kairi and Sora's bodies after the party the previous night. He turned all five remaining humans, Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, and Riku, into mermen and mermaids, and then they too, jumped into water to search for the missing girl.


	38. Mystery

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

**Thanks to ANMProductions for correcting my mistake regarding Sora's fish identity ******

The five keywielders followed Ariel to the depths of the sea before they really noticed what they looked like. It was all new to Riku, Roxas, Namine, and Kairi, though Sora had seen himself as a half-man, half-shark before. He looked down to once again study his sharktale. Kairi was staring as well. She saw him more clearly now than the night before. He looked so graceful, obviously, he knew how to use his fin. His strong chest was flawless, except for one thing, which made him all the more appealing to her. He had a six inch slash-like scar on the left side of his chest, just over his heart. She winced at the memory that suddenly clouded her vision.

She was fourteen, and though she was there, she had no heart, and no soul, they had been taken by Maleficent. When Sora learned he carried her heart inside of his own, he selflessly plunged the keyblade into his heart in hopes to give his life for hers. She woke up. Crushed, she didn't know how she could go on. At first she thought the tears that she shed came from guilt at the fact that he stabbed himself so that she could live. It was only until she was in his arms again that she realized that that wasn't it at all. She was irrevocably in love with her best friend. His touch made her renewed heart flutter, and her stomach churn, but in a good way. She felt her very being levitate in his arms, though it was only in her mind. His scent, his heat, his looks, and every fiber in his body overwhelmed her. For a moment she wasn't sure if any of this was actually happening, or if his attempt at saving her had been unsuccessful and this was her heaven.

Somehow, that scar drew her even closer to him than she had been before, once again reminding her of the very rare, strong connection that they had to each other, the one that would never thin. His hair in the water made her want to go closer to him and run her fingers through it, but she held back, and forced herself to quit daydreaming. She had to focus to help them find Melody. She didn't notice Sora watching her, the way she noticed him doing it the night before.

Sora watched her yet again, admiring her the way he did so frequently. And although he'd just seen her not ten hours ago, she still knocked the breath from his lungs and made his heart stop beating for a moment. She was still mesmerizing to him. She was a mermaid now, her fin was salmon-pink, just a bit lighter than the color of her hair. Her top was blood-red. She looked like fire in a world of water. He shook his head to refocus his attention on the others. The others were mermaids and mermen as well. Namine was wearing white, her top and her fin. Roxas' fin was red, and Riku's was yellow. That was all he noticed about them, none of them seemed to capture his attention as much as Kairi did. Ever. He once again forced his eyes off of the red-haired beauty and back to Ariel, who they were all following in hopes of finding her daughter.

When he followed Ariel, along with the rest of them, out of a hole in the wall, they came out onto the other side with a view of the ice castle he'd been too not that long ago. He swam closer to Kairi and linked his arm in hers. He looked at her, then back to the ice castle. "Atlantica," he told her. Her eyes went from him to the glorious ice sculpture in front of them. She looked into the distance and saw the castle. As they moved closer and closer, the more in awe she became. "It's beautiful," she heard Namine say. "Yeah, to say the least," she added.

When they reached the entrance to the castle, they swam through the long winding hallway that led to King Triton's throne. He was there as well, he swam ahead and he was anxiously awaiting them. "Any news, daddy?" Ariel asked him, worried. He took a deep breath. "No, I'm afraid not Ariel. I've consulted with all of my soldiers, none of them have seen her. I swear, she's just like you…" She stopped listening to him when she noticed something terrible. "DADDY!" He looked to where she was pointing. "Your trident, it's gone!" A look of horror crossed his face as he noticed it as well. Riku picked something golden up off the ground and handed it to Ariel. "Oh no," she said, horrified. "I know where she is." She hurriedly placed the golden locket around her neck and swam swiftly back through the winding hallway.

Kairi, Namine, Roxas, and Riku were having a hard time keeping up, so Sora had to keep a half distance away from Ariel, so that he would be in view for them to follow, so no one got lost. Sora began to recognize the place they were swimming to. It was the way they got to Ursula's lair when she was still alive. The same haunting passageway full of skulls and unknown sea creatures stared them down as they passed. They reached the end of the passageway into the good sized room that held an evil woman who looked an awful lot like Ursula, except she was considerably smaller. "Melody, no!" Ariel shrieked as she saw Melody about to hand the trident to the Morgana.

"Melody, what are you doing?!"

"She helped me."

"Melody no! Look, there's something I need to tell you…"

"It's too late, Mom." She handed the trident to Morgana, who then laughed evily, before raising the trident into the air, scaring the child. "Now it's mine!" The old woman shouted.

The mermaids and mermen were all trapped by the trident that was now in the hands of Morgana. Kairi looked at Sora, afraid. "It's going to be fine. It always works itself out," he told her, but he wasn't even sure this time. There seemed to be no way out, but then Melody's flipper turned back to feet, and then he watched her bravely get up to where Morgana was wreaking havoc on the sea and snatch the trident, throwing it back to her grandfather. He caught it and freed them all, thanking Melody. He then turned Morgana to ice, who then floated back into the depths of the sea.

After everyone breathed a sigh of relief, a dark shadow emerged from the water. It was big, and shaped much like a giant squid. Sora squinted and saw a small shiny object in the middle of the chaser's chest. A keyblade. He drew his, and the others did also, preparing for the battle. This chaser was an easy one, considering the fact that they had King Trident to help them. Each lightning bolt that struck the chaser left it paralyzed for a few seconds, giving them a lot of time to bring him down without having to focus half of their attention on their defense. Finally, the chaser fell, and Roxas plunged into the water after the keyblade that sunk at a fast rate. He emerged about a minute later, gold-plated keyblade in hand. Then Sora turned to the King. "Thanks."

"No worries, you've helped us many times."

"There is one more favor I need to ask of you, your majesty." He nodded him, suggesting him to go on. "There's a war coming, between darkness and light. The witch known as Maleficent will have all evil forces in all worlds on her side, and I was informed it was my duty to get anyone and everyone I can to help us out…"  
"Say no more, I and half of my soldiers will be there. The rest need to stay here to protect Atlantica."

"I understand, and thanks again."

"I'm sorry, Melody. I should have told you the truth," Sora heard Ariel explain to her daughter. He was too busy staring at Kairi again to pay attention to what Melody's reply was. His thoughts were interrupted Ariel swam over to thank them. "You always show up at the perfect times, Sora. Thanks again. And thank you guys as well," she said to the rest of them. They nodded. "We should get back to land to let your father know that you are alright." She turned her attention back to Melody. "Okay." Melody said goodbye to her grandfather one last time, but promised that she would be back since it was safe now. Ariel put her arm around her daughter and they swam together back to the shore, where they were greeted welcomly by everyone there.

"Does this mean you have to go?" Melody asked Riku. He smiled and looked at Sora. Sora turned to her to answer her question. "I'm afraid that we do. But, we can still go for one last swim in the ocean with you if you want." She beamed and ran off towards the sand, that was now unseparated from their castle. The wall had been torn down.

A few hours later, they got back out of the sea water and headed back to the castle to dress and pack. Sora just finished getting changed when he slowly started to disintegrate. "What?"…

Sora opened his eyes again, and looked down to be sure that his body reattached as well. He then looked to the side of him, to see Kairi. He went to stand next to her. He put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. Then he looked ahead of him. King Mickey was standing directly in front of them, holding a small piece of paper in his hand. He had a strange expression on his face. Sora and Kairi both studied it, but couldn't tell exactly what it was. They hadn't seem him look this way before. "I told you that I would summon you here once I read and interpreted the last page of the book." They nodded. "Well, I have. It's not what I expected at all, but it is definitely good news." He looked to Sora, and then to Kairi. "What does it say?" Sora asked the King. "I'm not permitted to tell you."

"Why not?" Sora asked again. The king looked like he wished he could say something. "I'm sorry Sora, but I can't tell you that either. All you need to know, is that there will be an end, but of course you already knew that. I just had to let you know that. Good luck on the rest of your journey." The King dropped the paper on his way out the door. Sora didn't notice, but Kairi did. "Are you coming?" Sora asked, following King Mickey out the door. "Yeah, just give me a minute, k?" Sora looked confused, but agreed. He shut the door. Kairi picked up the small piece of paper. She thought twice about looking at it, but in the end, curiosity got the best of her and she began to read it. She was confused after she read it, trying to interpret what exactly it meant. But then she understood, and shock washed across her face. She shoved the paper into her pocket and tried to calmly walk out the door, as if nothing happened.

She rejoined Sora at the gummi ship. The others had driven it there to pick them up on their way to their next world. She sat next to him in the front and the ship started to move. "Where to?" Riku asked. Sora touched a button on the screen in front of him again. "Uh, a new world. But it's inside of our world, earth. It's in Paris, France. How odd…"


	39. Miracle

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**_

Paris, France was beautiful. The gummi ship landed with perfect accuracy, right on the outskirts of the city. Kairi was the first one out. She stopped in her steps. "Wow! I've always wanted to go here!" Sora smiled at her comment, and the fact that she got what she'd wanted. "I'm glad we got to go here for you. Look!" Sora pointed out the Eiffel Tower for Kairi. He saw her smile spread from one side of her face to the other. She looked mesmerized.

Donald stumbled out onto Kairi from the gummi ship, causing her to fall. Sora caught her and glared at Donald. "Sorry," the duck said. Once the rest of them got out, they started walking towards the Eiffel Tower, not sure where else to start. In the distance, a bell began to ring. Goofy was the first to notice. "Hey look over there!" They all looked towards the sound. It was at the very top of the tower in the church called Notre Dame. "Notre Dame. Now why does that sound familiar?" Sora asked himself. He shrugged and told the others, "I think maybe we're supposed to go there." They all nodded and followed him.

They didn't get very far. Once they got into the town square, they were stopped by the very large amount of people. Riku asked one what was going on. "Why, you don't know? Today is the festival!" The man turned back around. "But what…" Riku was about to ask, but was interrupted by Roxas. He saw a small man climbing down the church walls. He nudged Sora and when he turned around, Roxas told them, "Look! There's a dude climbing down the wall." They turned their heads to see him. "What's he doing?" Namine wondered. Then, he grabbed a string of ribbons, and swung down until he got to the floor.

At first, everyone was staring at him. It wasn't hard for them to tell why. He was hunchbacked with a deformed face. Or, that's what he _looked_ like. But then everyone laughed and thought it was a mask. It was a festival, _everyone_ had an ugly mask on. He was brought up on stage. Riku's mouth dropped open as a beautiful gypsy girl came out onto the stage. Everyone at the festival began singing and dancing, and the girl started pulling off the masks of everyone on stage. The short man was last in line. Masks were being thrown out at the crowd, who were laughing at each one being pulled off. A roar of laughter came as the last one's turn came up. But then, the laughter stopped and was replaced with fear and awe as the last man's mask turned out to be his face. Even the girl looked scared.

A different man, looked like he was running the event, looked out at his crowd. "Why the shock? We wanted the ugliest face, and here he is!" The short man was strung to a rotating smaller stage, and as he was being spun around, tomato after tomato was being thrown at his face. Sora's face was full of anger. "How can they _do_ that!?" Goofy had to grab his arm. "No meddling." Sora looked down at his feet, knowing that there was nothing he could do. He tried not to look at Kairi's face, knowing it would sadden him further. He couldn't help it. He stole one glance at Kairi. She was horrified. Tears filled hers and Namine's eyes at the sight of the poor little man being tortured and humiliated.

The unlucky man wasn't unlucky for long. The girl from earlier appeared on the stage and was about to cut the strings holding him down. Another strange voice stopped her. "No, gypsy. There's a lesson to be learned."

"But this is cruel!" She said.

"Stop now, gypsy." She refused to listen. She cut the ties so that he could be free. The soldiers tried to capture the girl, who seemed to be cornered. "Oh no," Kairi said. "They're going to catch her." Kairi was surprised when that didn't happen. The girl brought out a purple cloth in front of her, and was gone. She was hearing the words throughout the crowd, they were muttering things like "ungodly" and "witch". She turned to Riku. "Where'd she go?" He shook his head. "I have no idea."

Sora had a feeling that they were supposed to follow the man, but by the time the crowd had calm down enough to spread out a little and let them through, the man was gone. "The church tower." Roxas suggested. Sora nodded his head and took off running towards the tall building that read, "Notre Dame." They stopped in front of it, they saw a hairy man smoking a pipe go into the church. They followed him in. When they got inside, the hairy man removed the cloak to reveal something else. It was a goat, the goat belonging to the gypsy that had saved the little man. Donald cringed, "Hurry! Hide!" He said. They all listened and hid in a small crevice near the door of the church. It was a little crowded.

A blonde man, who looked like a soldier, but was dressed a little differently came in. The gypsy stole his sword and pointed it at him. They watched them bicker back and forth. Soon, the soldier took his sword back, at which point the girl got a long candlestick and pointed it at him, they watched the small duel until the doors swung open, crushing Donald behind it. Sora tried to hold back the laughter that overwhelmed him after he saw Donald's face when the door shut again. Kairi nudged Sora and put her finger over his lips. She then pointed her other finger at the confrontation in front of them. The bitter old man wanted the gypsy arrested, because she defied him. The soldiers were about to listen, when another man, who looked like the priest, butted in. "You can't arrest this woman in the house of God." The bitter man looked angry, but reluctantly obeyed the church's orders to leave.

The gypsy heard something, though the rest of them didn't. She began walking up the stairs and they followed her, quietly. When they reached the top of the stairs, they came into full view and the gypsy looked frightened. "What is _that_!?" She asked, pointing at Donald. Donald looked angry, but the rest of them were laughing. "Hey!" She saw the rest of their faces and laughed as well. The little man joined in. "Who are you?" She asked them, directing her question at Sora. "I'm Sora, and you?"

"Esmeralda. And this is my friend Quasimoto." The little man spoke. "Hi there," he said. Sora began introducing his friends, "This is my friend Riku, uh, cousin, Roxas," He told her, knowing that telling them the truth would scare and confuse them, "My friends Donald and Goofy, my girlfriend Kairi, and her cousin Namine." Each of them waved to the girl and the man.

"You don't look like you live around her, what brings you to town?" Esmeralda asked them. Riku answered. "We're uh, soldiers, but not the kind that are looking for you. I guess you could say we're world soldiers, we make sure each town is in it's right place, not corrupting the world order."

"Oh good, so you can fight off the soldiers that are after me right?"

"Not exactly," Sora answered. "To do that would be meddling, we aren't allowed to fight anyone who has the right to be here anyway."

"I don't understand…" she said. Sora wasn't sure how else to put it. Kairi answered for him. "We can't fight anyone born here." That was simple enough. Sora smiled and thanked her. "Oh, I understand I guess."

They said their goodbyes to Esmeralda after Quasimoto told her he'd help her escape the "sanctuary." They watched him carry her down the wall. When she was safely in the streets, they watched her thank him and wave. He got back up the wall, and they said they had to be going. They weren't going to find any trouble here, they'd guessed.

"What now?" Namine asked after they got back to the street. Sora shrugged. "Could we maybe see some of the city?" Kairi suggested. Sora thought about this for a second. "Okay, but if there's trouble, I'll signal you. Just watch for fire in the sky." They agreed. Roxas and Namine went one way, Donald and Goofy went another. Riku started walking with Sora and Kairi, but then turned around and followed Donald and Goofy instead, giving them alone time. "How much longer?" Kairi asked him. "I'm not sure, we've never separated far enough from our nobodies not to hear them, but Roxas is still babbling." _Hey, shutup! I can't get you out of my head either._

_Oops, sorry._ It was another few minutes before the chatting in the four of their heads stopped, and they were alone in their thoughts. Sora grabbed Kairi's hands. "What're you doing, Sora?" He leaned in and kissed her. It was a few minutes before he took his lips off of hers. "Keep your eyes open, you won't want to miss this." She nodded, guessing at what was going to happen. Sora took a deep breath and she copied him. They began to levitate. They floated higher and higher, in each others arms, until finally, they were above the buildings. Sora hugged her tighter, before taking off in the air faster, until they reached the Eiffel Tower. He let her down gently once they got there. "Sora, thank you!" She jumped back onto him once he lowered himself onto the building. He put his arms underneath her and kissed her cheek.

They sat down and Sora dangled his legs off of the edge of the landmark. "Sora! Are you crazy? You're gonna fall!"

"No way." He got up and jumped off the building, letting himself freefall until about ten feet before he hit the ground, at which time he began to fly again. Once he got back up and landed, he looked at Kairi again. She was frozen with one hand over her fragile heart and one over her mouth. "I'm sorry Kairi, did I scare you?" She scowled at him and said "DUH!" She hit his arm playfully. "I'm so sorry, you know I didn't mean to…" She threw herself on top of him, knocking him to the ground and not letting him finish his sentence. He was completely flat on the ground. She had one hand on his chest and the other on the ground supporting her. "I _did_ forget that you could fly. But it doesn't happen to many guys so you can expect my reaction, you know." He grinned slightly. He sat back up. "I won't do it again, I swear."

"I believe you. But can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything."

"I want to try." He looked at her at first like he was about to say no. "Alright, but you can't do it alone, you need to be in my arms."

"But it's not as fun that way!"  
"It's also not as risky that way." He kissed her softly and she agreed. She couldn't fight that face. He held out his hand. When she took it, he pulled her swiftly against his body and wrapped his arms around her. He put himself facing her, to fall first, so that she could see the ground that would be coming towards them. "It will be more exciting this way," he told her. She agreed. He pressed her firmly against his body, and held on tight before letting himself fall backwards. She looked at the ground but then spent most of her time looking at him. His face was perfect, she was drawn to it. He had eyes that drew her in to them, like she was being hypnotized. His skin was the perfect complexion, and so smooth, she wanted to kiss every part of his face. Every part of his face was perfectly proportioned, as if his body and soul weren't enough to draw her in. The memory of seeing him shirtless that night in Atlantica came back to her. She remembered seeing the beads of water drop from his hair onto his bare chest and roll down. Her memory was interrupted when she saw the ground coming closer. Suddenly she felt them stop and begin floating upwards again.

Sora gently sat her down where they were before. This time, she dangled her legs off, as he did. She put on hand on the side of his face that was facing the other way, and she softly turned his head towards hers. She leaned closer to him, kissing him. She put the hand that was occupied with his face on his chest, over his heart. She felt the thumping of his vibrant heart beat faster and faster with each centimeter she moved closer to him. And it beat even harder while she was kissing him. She layed down on top of him and rolled with him further from the edge, never coming up for air. He could've flown if they fell, but she felt she was still a little more comfortable away from the edge, since her attention was focused on her lips and not the edge of the tower. When they were safely away from the edge, she lifted herself off of him and lay on the side of him, tucking her hands behind her head, and he did the same. "It's nice not having the nobodies around." Kairi said. Sora was still trying to recover from the makeout session that he wasn't expecting. "Yeah," was all he could say. "Thanks again for bringing me up here."

"Ha you thanked me enough just by kissing me like that."

"I've kissed you before silly." He knew that, but this time it felt different. "Well, not like THAT." He accentuated. He saw her blush and close her eyes, enjoying the warm summer breeze at the top of the tower. He noticed her shiver and immediately sat up to remove his jacket. She sat up too. "Sora, it's not that bad, you don't have to…" He put his finger to her lips, and was shocked at how soft they were. "Shh. I _want_ to." He put the jacket on her, and it fit big, so he zipped it up so that it would stay on her. "But I don't want you to be cold." He moved closer to her when she said this, and put his arm around her. "Problem solved. You will keep me warm." He said smiling. He squeezed her tighter with the arm he had around her. She pulled her head off the floor, and put it on his chest, her ear over his heart. It beat fast, until five minutes went by and it beat slowly and evenly, signaling her that he was asleep. She yawned then, too. She turned onto her side, facing him, and put one leg over him, and one arm over him, her head still over his heart. She then took his free hand, that was laying on his stomach, and put it on her back. She wasn't trying to, but it didn't take long before she fell asleep as well.

Kairi startled awake to a sound in the distance. She was afraid, but she crawled over to the edge of the tower and peeked over. She squinted her eyes, and then they widened when she saw them, and put her hand to her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Very many horses were carrying soldiers holding torches, shouting. She zeroed in on one man, the one that was trying to arrest the girl earlier. She got up and ran to Sora in a hurry. She shook him awake. He opened his eyes slowly, but got up immediately when he saw the fear in hers. "What's wrong?" She pointed, not able to say anything. He crawled to the edge. The soldier from earlier had just fallen into the water. Sora grabbed Kairi and was about to jump off. "Wait, how do we get down, we can't just jump!" He told her. "I don't know, but Sora that man fell we can't just do nothing!" He thought for a minute and glanced over at the shallow river again. "Oh good, look!" Kairi's eyes followed his pointed finger. "Oh, the girl, thank goodness." She saw the girl struggle to get up, carrying the man on her shoulders. The soldiers and the old, bitter man and their horses went behind a row of buildings. He looked at Kairi and she nodded. He took this unseen opportunity. He took her and jumped off of the Eiffel Tower. When they landed, she began to run towards the river, the girl was barely onto the bridge by now. It would take her forever at this rate. Sora drew his keyblade and shot firaga into the sky to summon the rest of them.

Donald and Goofy showed up by the time they got to the bridge. "Where's everyone else?" Sora asked. "Riku went to the church, Roxas and Namine went off that way," he said pointed his feathered finger, "But we don't know where." Sora shrugged. "Esmeralda!" He called to her. She turned around frightened but she looked relieved when she saw the four familiar faces. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were Frollo or one of his soldiers." They guessed that Frollo was the bitter old man. "Nope. Mind if I help you?" Sora asked. _Namine! Where the hell are you!? You should've been within hearing distance by now!_ Kairi thought in her head. Nothing. "Absolutely. He's heavy, careful." She gently took him off her back and placed him into Sora's arms. Sora swung him onto his back and began to run, not fast, because of the added weight, but certainly fast enough. Kairi and Esmeralda walked behind them, Donald and Goofy on the side of Sora and his passenger. Kairi was staring at Sora's arms and legs, supporting a 200 pound or so man. His muscles were flexed, tendons standing out. Esmeralda closed her lips to prevent herself from laughing. It didn't work. A muffled sound came from her lips that was her laughter. Kairi turned to her. "What?"

"What? Your googly eyes!" She laughed again and Kairi blushed knowing that it was probably true. "You might as well be drooling." Esmeralda laughed again. "Can you blame me?" Esmeralda looked at Sora. "Ha, well no, I guess not. What do you think of the blonde?"  
"Hehe, you like him?"

"Yes. A lot."

"He's cute, a little old though."

"Well, not for me. How old are you anyway?"

"Sixteen. And you?"

"Twenty-two. I think it's about time I find a good man that I like."

"Your right." Kairi didn't know what she'd do if she hadn't found the guy she wanted till she was twenty-two. "So how about your guy?"

"He's sixteen too." Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "I mean do you like him?"

"No. I love him."

"Aw, that's too cute!" Kairi blushed again watching Sora. "And he?"

"He loves me too. Of that I'm sure."

"That's just precious. Congratulations."

"Thanks." Sora interrupted their girl-talk. "Where to, Esmeralda?"

"The church tower. The very top."

"Okay!" He shouted back.

Lucky for them, it wasn't too far to the clock tower. Donald opened the door so that Sora could carry the man inside. As soon as they shut the door, a shadow started creeping up towards them. "Uh oh. This is early." Sora gently layed the man on the floor. "Where the hell are Roxas and Namine!?"

"I don't know!" Kairi answered him. She liked hearing him say hell, it made him sound even tougher. "What in the world is that thing!?" Esmeralda said hiding behind Goofy. Kairi answered her. "Remember how I told you we can't fight people who are born here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, THAT is something not born here!" Esmeralda understood somewhat. No time to ask any additional questions. "Kairi, Goofy, stay with Esmeralda and the wounded soldier!" They nodded, Sora drew his keyblade and Donald got his staff. Donald began casting magic, the one that stops time so that Sora could finish him off faster. Esmeralda watched in awe, Kairi watched in horror. This one seemed to be tougher, though it was slightly smaller than the rest of them they'd fought. It reached down to Sora and slashed it's hand across his face, leaving four freshly made bleeding wounds across Sora's cheek. "OH!" Kairi shrieked. She ran towards Sora, hoping to fend the chaser off him, not caring if she got hurt in the process. Goofy stopped her by running in front of her. "You being hurt would hurt Sora more." With that, Kairi stopped. She watched, terrified, heart aching, but not wanted to hurt Sora by getting hurt herself. That didn't matter after another minute or so, when the chaser did something she hadn't seen before. He took Sora in his hand and threw him as hard as possible against the very, very high church ceiling. Kairi screamed in pain, and ran as fast as she could towards the very broken-down Sora, who'd fallen straight to the ground, unconscious. He was bruised and bleeding all over. "NO! NO NO NO!" She put her head in her hands, kneeling next to him, crying. She heard Esmeralda say something, then Goofy sprinted over to help Donald with the vicious chaser. She was laying on Sora's chest, her hand over his heart, just to make sure it didn't stop beating. She wasn't sure if she could survive if it did stop. Riku ran down the stairs at that moment, he must've been in the church tower. He looked once at Kairi, then down at Sora. His eyes grew wide. Immediately he drew his keyblade. He thrust himself into the air and swiped his keyblade quickly across the chaser. The chaser knocked him against the wall, not being as beaten up as Sora because he just started fighting, he got right back up. The three went at it with the chaser for another few minutes before Kairi screamed again. She got up. "Donald! Sora's pulse is gone! His heart, it's not beating!" She couldn't control the tears streaming down her face and she ran back to Sora, but felt herself lose control of her body. She fell. She felt her eyes shut, but she wasn't sure why. She wasn't falling asleep, she knew that. _Am I passing out? I can't! What about So…._ Then her eyes gently closed. 

She woke up lying on a blanket on the ground in the bell tower of the church. It was early morning, she guess around four. Immediately after that, she looked around her, everyone there, looked worried, everyone there except for Sora. She frowned and sat up quickly, pushing Donald's arm out of her way. "MOVE!" She scowled at him. He looked shocked but did as he was asked. She walked slowly to a sleeping, or at least she hoped sleeping, Sora. She knelt on the ground next to him and took his hand and kissed it. He felt warm, that was a very good, relieving, sign. She put her hand over his heart, it was beating. She took a deep breath. Once relieved, she turned to the rest of them, Roxas and Namine had apparently joined them while she was passed out. "I'm sorry about that Donald. What happened?" Riku answered her question. When you passed out, the chaser left. Goofy and I tried chasing it while Donald tried to help Sora, but it disappeared into the ground before we could get to it. Weird, but anyway, Donald was casting heal over and over. It wasn't working. Then the most amazing thing happened. I said 'Come on Sora! You can't leave us! You can't leave me! You can't leave Donald and Goofy! You can't leave Kairi!' And once I said you're name, his heart began beating again." Riku was smiling while he was telling her this. Quasimoto was in the backround, smiling. "You must really be something to him," he said. She blushed, she wanted to kiss Sora, but not in front of the rest of them. And she wanted to have a word with Roxas and Namine. She didn't get her wish. Quasimoto told them, "Frollo's coming! Hide!" They listened. Each hid in a different spot while the footsteps of Frollo came closer and closer. Quasimoto began messing with some dolls he'd made when he stepped inside. "Oh, hey Master." They sat at the table. Kairi wasn't paying much attention, but she did get the gist of the conversation. Frollo knew that Quasimoto had helped the gypsy, then the blonde man underneath the table made a moaning sound, and Quasimoto tried to imitate it so that Frollo wouldn't know. Then Frollo said he knew where the gypsy was and that he'd find her and the rest of them at dawn. He stomped out of there, and they all came out of hiding.

Sora woke up then. "What happened?" Kairi kissed him passionately, not caring what the others saw, glad that he had woken up. She explained it to him quickly, as the blonde man had also woken up and convinced Quasi to go to the fountain of miracles, where the gypsies were, and warn them. She told him more as they made their way over there. "Did my heart really start beating when Riku said that?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"I know." He grabbed her hand and kissed it, then they walked hand-in-hand to their destination.


	40. Fire and Brimstone

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

Kairi knew why King Mickey didn't want them to see the last page of that book, and so she was doing her best to keep it from Sora. She didn't want it to distract him the way it was distracting her now. Being tied up and accused of crimes they didn't commit on the stage in the town square was horrible enough, and they needed to focus on a way to get out of this mess.

They had been arrested by Frollo and his soldiers shortly after going to the fountain of miracles, turns out it had been a trap to get them to lead Frollo, who had been watching closely by, to the fountain. They were all arrested and now they were tied up in the town square. Quasimoto was hiding in his bell tower. They thought they had been his friend, why was he acting like such a coward? None of them knew. The blonde man was in a cage, trying desperately to break out and save Esmeralda, tied up in between Kairi and Namine. They were accused of being gypsies. Sora, Roxas, Riku, Donald, and Goofy were charged because they supposedly knew about the gypsies and didn't come forward to Frollo.

"NO STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kairi yelled to Frollo when he lit a pile of straw underneath Esmeralda on fire. "First we will make the head witch pay for her crimes."

"I'm no witch!" Esmeralda told Frollo. He ignored her and then let Kairi's pile and Namine's pile on fire. Sora drew his keyblade and Donald knew what he was about to do. "Stop, Sora. We can't meddle!"  
"They're meddling!"

"We can't show them magic in a world where magic doesn't exist."

"I think they saw magic the other day when Esmeralda disappeared."  
"Those were illusions. Disappearing is much different than shooting ice from a large key." Sora didn't listen, he command Blizzaga from his keyblade, pointing towards Kairi's fire first. "Nothing happened Donald!"

"I told you, magic doesn't exist here."

"We've used it in other worlds before!"

"Only when in the presence of something unworldly, like heartless, we can't use it on habitants or elements of this world, it won't work." Sora heard something in the distance, it was Quasimoto swinging down from a rope. "Yes!" He pointed at him and the crowd saw him then as well.

He landed on the stage and freed the three girls, who ran into the church. Then he freed the blonde man. Frollo chased the girls into the church, he was going to kill them there, even though it was against church law. Sora and the rest of them, including the soldier, ran after Frollo and the girls. They stopped when they got inside the church. The blonde man chased after Frollo, and Donald stopped Sora. "Don't forget, this is his fight. Don't meddle." Then the rest of them followed the soldier.

They watched from the background of the bell tower, Frollo and the soldier go out onto the ledge fighting. Frollo ended up standing on a narrow ledge, which was slowly breaking off of the building. He didn't seem to notice, but the blonde man did. He smiled smugly while he and Frollo fought, until a minute later, when Frollo fell to his death. The stone guardians poured lava down in front of the church doors, killing any that tried to go inside.

Quasimoto was declared a hero by the town, and he was accepted now, he would no longer have to hide his face. "Thank you guys for all your help", the soldier told them. "Don't mention it." Sora said back. "Can you stay?" Esmeralda wondered. "No, we have to go help another place out right now."

"That's too bad, is there any way we can return the favor?" Quasimoto said.

"We need help. There's a war coming. Between light and dark, we are in desperate need of people to help us out."

"I'll be there." The soldier told them, and Quasimoto agreed before they turned their attention back to the crowd. Sora and the others went back to the gummi ship, on to their next destination.


	41. Impudent Piece of Crockery

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**_

_**I apologize for not writing in several months. But I was not inspired and if I wrote anyway, the story would suck. So anyways, here is chapter 41:**_

"What's next on the schedule?" Riku asked the pilot. "It looks like we're not too far away from the next world, since it's in the same continent as Paris." Goofy looked excited. "Where are we going?""London, England."

The gummi ship spun again, and landed in a shallow pond. "Oh, _excellent _piloting, Sora." Donald said sarcastically. Sora glared at Donald before turning to ask if everyone was okay. Once everyone told him they were okay, he got up and looked towards yet another castle. Riku begin walking towards it when Sora said, "Wait a minute. I know that voice." Riku listened intently and realized that he recognized it too. It was coming from the left of them, in a forest. Kairi looked scared and Sora took her hand. "It's okay. I won't let anything harm you."

The five of them(Namine and Roxas were in Sora and Kairi) walked into the darkness that was the woods. They approached a tall and skinny man falling into a well. "Hang on! I'll help you!" Sora ran over and pulled the old man by the feet out of the well, and Donald took the bucket of water from his hands. "Hey! How are you Merlin!" Sora asked, excitedly. "Oh, my boy, I've been expecting you.""Really? Why?""Well I had to come from somewhere, didn't I? This is _my_ original world. Welcome to London, England." The group followed them into a small cottage.

"Oh what a cute little owl!" Kairi exclaimed. The owl scowled at her, offended. "Oh pardon him, he's sensitive." The owl got more upset and went into his little house. "Now would you all like some tea?" They nodded and sat at the circular table after Merlin summoned some chairs. But he summoned one extra chair. "Who's going to sit there?" Goofy asked curiously. "I'm expecting someone else. I don't know who or why, I just know he's a scrawny little thing, about twelve, and very important." Riku nudged Sora. "Can't argue with that."

Arcimedes had come out of his house and perched on a fake branch inside the house. They drank tea and chatted for awhile until they heard the crack of a branch. A small boy, blonde and scrawny, fell through the roof and onto the empty chair. "Well, you did drop in for tea after all." He laughed and looked at his watch. "Though you are a bit late you know."

"Oh, I am?" He seemed confused, examining his surroundings. Merlin began to speak. "Yes. Now, my name is Merlin. The people you see around you are Donald, Goofy, Sora, Kairi, and Riku." They all said hello to the boy. "Come come, who are you, my lad?"

"Well, my name's Arthur, but everyone calls me Wart." Merlin looked shocked. Riku stifled a laugh. Roxas was laughing in Sora's head. _Dude, that SUCKS!_ "Oh." Merlin replied. Just then, Arthur reached out to touch Arcimedes, "Oh, what a perfect stuffed owl." Arcimedes, of course, got offended. "Stu-Stuffed? Well I beg your pardon!" "Whoa! He's alive and he talks." The owl went back into his house. "Oh come now, Arcimedes. Come come now I want you to meet the Wart. Now you must forgive him, he's only a boy." The owl came out. "Boy? I see no boy." He grabbed the tea Arthur was offering and slammed his door. "Oh I'm sorry that I…" Merlin interrupted him. "That's alright," Then he looked at the rest of them, and they all said at the same time, "He's much too sensitive."

"How did you know I was…""Oh, that you were dropping in? I happen to be a wizard, a sorcerer, and prognosticator. I have the power to see into the future. I've even been there lad." Merlin showed him models of things that would not be invented for awhile at that time, such as trains and planes. He asked Arthur if he would like sugar, and when he replied yes, they all watched as an adorable little cup of sugar danced over to them and filled their cups with sugar. Then Merlin asked about the boys education, finding out that he is in training to be a squire. "No I mean a real education boy, mathematics…" He said no and Merlin offered to be his teacher. "Oh but I've got to get back to the castle, they'll want me in the kitchen!"

"Okay, then I suppose we'll come with you. Now watch this boy, you'll like it." Merlin spelled all his stuff into one bag. That trick was still shocking to Sora and the group. When they were walking out, Merlin pointed his staff at the boy and said "Now don't go thinking that magic will solve all of your problems". _It solves all of mine._

_It solves MOST of yours, Roxas. The key word is MOST._

They followed Merlin and Arthur from a ways back, trying to stay out of the story as much as possible. They saw the wolf tracking them, and couldn't help but laugh at the predicaments the wolf was getting into.

They arrived at the castle. Arthur was sent back to the kitchen, and the father asked Merlin who he was. "I am the world's most powerful wizard." He cast a spell on the plump man when he laughed. "Okay, I'm convinced. And who are your friends?"

"Oh, that's Donald, Goofy, Riku, Sora, and Kairi… They're uh, magicians, of a sort…"

"Where are you from?" Riku answered. "Uh, Sweden." The man looked pleased. "Oh how wonderful I'm good friends with the Baron of Sweden. You must be tired from your travels. Would you like to stay here tonight?""That would be great, if it's not too much trouble." Kairi answered him. "Not at all young lady. Son, take them to the northwest tower. That's the guest room. It's not much but it's nice this time of year" The son was eating chicken, "But dad…"

"NOW boy!" He threw his chicken wing at the dogs and motioned them to follow him." After they left, the man began again. "Now I hope you're not into any of that black magic.""Oh no, never touch the stuff. My magic is for educational purposes. That's why I'm here. I'm going to educate the Wart." After some convincing and more tricks, the man agreed to let Merlin stay. He joined the rest in the guest tower shortly after.


	42. One Big Medieval Mess

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. Or Pixar. Since they merged.**

The first night in the tower was not a good one. They spend half the night looking for things to cover the roof with, it was leaking rain. By the time they managed to get the majority of the cracks, they were soaked. Merlin conjured up a divider for them all to change into dry clothes behind. "Best room in the house! HMPH! But if he thinks he can get rid of me I've got news for that old Walrus…" They quietly chucked before drifting off to sleep.

They were awakened by the tower swaying back and forth after the castle bridge was dropped. Kairi yawned. "What's going on?" Merlin answered her.

"Some skinny man from London said he had big news." Goofy looked around. "Well aren't we in London?"

"Not really, more like a suburb of London." He poked his staff through the hole in Arcimedes' house. "Arcimedes, now would you mind sailing down there and uh…""NOT INTERESTED!"

"Oh come come come come now, you're as wet as you can get.""NO, no no no no!"

"I'll turn you into a human!""You wouldn't dare!""I will, so help me I will!""Alright alright." Arcimedes flew down to the castle.

Arcimedes came back five minutes later to report that London will be holding a tournament, and the prize would be King of all England. Kay will be going to compete, and Arthur will go with him. If he wins, Arthur will be his squire.

They woke up the next morning to the tower swaying again because of a jousting practice by Kay. They followed Merlin and Arthur to the pond, but didn't participate in the learning activities meant for Arthur. "There! Now you are a fish! Now get used to the water and I'll join you in a short while." Merlin turned to the group. "Now in case you haven't figured it out already, this world won't be as tough as the last ones. Since this world takes place in a very distant past, there are no heartless. But the reason you are here is because there is a chaser. That chaser isn't going to make itself known yet, so you may do whatever you please. Try to relax though, you need a bit of rejuvation after so many battles." Merlin changed himself into a fish and joined the boy in the water.

Riku, Donald, and Goofy grabbed bows and arrows and practiced their archery in the woods. Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi decided to explore the castle. They got to a ballroom. Though most of the castle was rustic and worn-down, this ballroom was incredible. The floors looked as if they were polished with gold, a luxurious chandelier that hung from the ceiling must have weighed at least a couple hundred pounds, with crystal holding lit candles. Sora pulled down the shades on the windows, so that all there would be left was candlelight. He offered his hand as if he wished to dance. "But Sora, there's no music…""Does it matter?" He asked her. She smiled and took his hand. They danced in the candlelight, with no music, just hanging on to each other.

"You must come quick!" Arcimedes said in a panic. "So much for relaxing." Riku told Donald and Goofy. "Hurry, travel 300 paces to your left!" They did as he asked and Arcimedes went to get Sora and Kairi. He flew it through one of the castle windows, not knowing where they were, knocked on every door until he found them. "You must come quick! Merlin and a crazy old woman are having a duel, but something is wrong, there is another monster fighting with Madam Mim!" Sora looked at Kairi and they both agreed right away. "Chaser!" Sora lifted Kairi onto his back and flew behind Arcimedes into the forest.

By the time they got there, Madam Mim and Merlin were changing into animals, part of the duel. Donald, Goofy, and Riku were wearing down the chaser, but they weren't having much luck. They weren't having any luck with Sora and Kairi either, even after they separated into nobodies. He didn't know what to do until he got an idea from Merlin. Merlin turned himself into a germ that made Madam Mim sick, causing her to be unable to fight. _Roxas, if we can cut off his source of offense, we can worry less about our defense._

_Not following._

_What if I freeze him?_

_It will only work for a short amount of time. 3 seconds._

_Exactly. But if I freeze only his arms and legs…_

_Genius._ Sora did exactly that. Without the chaser's arms to attack, and legs to run, they wore him off in no time. "Well, you kids learned a valuable lesson for your war. Slow them down before trying to finish them off. Now, I better get this old woman back to her cottage."

"We'll be back at the tower."

They were listening to stories that Merlin was telling when they heard Arthur come in. "Merlin look at me! I'm a squire!" Merlin got upset. "And I thought you were going to amount to something! Not be a servant for that big blunt Kay!" _Dude, he's being a little harsh._

_I know, poor kid._

_Can we say something?_

_I wish, but no. We can't meddle in the affairs of this world._

Merlin disappeared off to Bermuda. "Where did he go?"

"To Bermuda, I suppose." The owl told him.

"Where's that?""An island that hasn't been discovered yet."

"Will he be back?"

"I don't know." The boy turned to them. "Are you guys going to Bermuda too?""Not if you want us to stay." Sora told him.

"Oh please? Just until the jousting tournament is over." Kairi put her hand on his shoulder. "Of course."

They waited behind Arthur and Kay until Arthur had to return to the inn to get Kay's sword. He had forgotten it. They followed him and Donald noticed a sword in a stone. "Let's just get that one!" Donald ran over there and tried to pull it out, but failed. Then Riku tried, failed again. "Maybe he can pull it out." Kairi pointed to Arthur. Since they didn't know of the legend of the sword in the stone, or its outcome, they looked at Kairi like "Yeah, right." However Kairi convinced the boy to try and he pulled the sword out, effortlessly. "No way." Donald exclaimed. They didn't have much time to get over their shock as they had to run back to the tournament.

"Someone has pulled the sword from the stone!" No one believed that it had been little scrawny Arthur. "Okay, prove it boy." The whole crowd left the tournament to find out who had pulled the sword. They stood around, anxiously awaiting for the boy to try again. A man in the crowd explained the story to Sora and the rest of them while Arthur prepared to pull out the sword again. Kay stopped him. "Hey anyone can pull it once it's been pulled!" He tried to pull it and failed. After many more failed attempts, Arthur was given one more chance. Again, he did it effortlessly. The crowd cheered, partly shocked and party thankful, for the new King.

Arthur is afraid of his now for sure destiny, but Merlin returns and consoles him, and convinces him that he was right to be King all along. With Merlin back to stand by Arthur and help him, they say goodbye to their new friend Arthur, and their sensitive friend Arcimedes. "Go on kids, you've got other worlds to save." I'll be sure to handle the soldiers from England for the war when the time is right. I'll send Arthur himself, he should have aged a bit by that time, us being on a different timeline than yours. Along with the finest warriors in England. Go on now."

"Thanks Merlin." They smiled and waved, and went back to their gummi ship.


	43. A New World

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. Or Indians.**

"Well, it looks as if we'll be staying on earth longer now." Sora told them.

"Where are we going now? Russia, Germany?" Replied Kairi excitedly.

"Better. The United States. Before they were the United States."

"So then, the New World, with the Indians and settlers?" Riku confirmed.

"Right."

"Never been there before."

"Nope."

They landed in a ship, a small bulldog eyed them curiously. Then a large man in a purple suit came in, "What the hell is this? Who are you four?" Sora was confused. "Four?" He looked around. "Oh no! Kairi!" _Roxas! Can you…_

_Nah man they're too far away. They're safe though, I can sense that. We'll have to wait and see where this ship goes._

_I'm worried about them._

_No sense worrying if nothing's wrong. Focus on getting there and then we'll find them._

"Uh hello? Kid I'm talking to you!"

"I'm Sora, this is Riku, Donald, and Goofy."

"Donald and Goofy are some of the ugliest men I've ever seen. And where are you from you've got a rather strange accent…"

"I guess you could say we come from another part of Europe."

"Where?" Riku remembered what he told the men in the last world. "Sweden"

"Oh, Sweeds don't normally speak English so well, even if you sound funny. Oh well, it doesn't matter, stowaways are stowaways. You know what the punishment is…""Wait," Sora stopped him. "What if we worked?"

"Well we could use more people in the kitchen… Alright, but I don't wanna hear a word out of you until we land."

"Yes sir."

Meanwhile, Kairi woke up in a large forest, surrounded by trees. She looked around for the rest of them, but didn't see them anywhere. Then she noticed her feet. They looked…different. Then she realized what was going on. Her red hair was black, her pale skin was now light caramel, she was herself, same features, just another color. _Well this is different. I kind of like it. Where's Sora is he okay?_

_I don't know where they are but I can sense that they're fine. You should try to find someone and pray that they speak English, or they'll think you're loony._

Kairi stood up, and heard the sound of rushing water. She made her way over to it. She found herself standing on top of a cliff, looking down five stories into a beautiful, sparkling, crystal clear river. There were so many colors she'd never seen before in nature, it was mesmerizing, beautiful. Then she heard footsteps. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

_Oh thank heavens._

"It is. I'm Kairi."

"What a strange name! I'm Pocahontas. This is Flit, and Miko. You seem to be lost, are you okay?""Well, not really, I seem to have gotten separated from my friends."

"What are their names?"

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku."

"They don't sound familiar, and they too have strange names. Are you from another tribe?"

"You could say that.""Oh no, you're not from the tribe at war with us are you?""Of course not, my tribe helps people."

"Oh, well then, I will help you. Follow me." She noticed her friend in a canoe in the water. She nodded to her friend, and turned into the woods. Kairi followed her, but then she turned around and sprinted towards the water. _Oh no way. _Kairi ran back, to see Pocahontas plunge into the water, her animal friends behind her. She came up from underwater, and waved her down. "Uh, I think I'll go another way…"

"It's not that hard. Do you not know how to dive?" _Just close your eyes and do it, or you won't appear Indian._ Kairi closed her eyes and leapt off, but midway through the fall she remembered flying with Sora off the Eiffel Tower, and suddenly it wasn't that scary anymore. She opened her eyes and she was glad she did.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!! That means you as well kitchen boys!" They were in a bad storm, and strong hands were needed to hold the sails steady. The four of them rushed up to help. When a man went overboard, another man named John Smith jumped in after him. Sora jumped in to help John and the other man. Once they were all back on deck, the governor thanked John Smith for this bravery, as well as Sora. "It seems I have misjudged you." He smiled and took his dog back in his cabin.

Kairi was with Pocahontas by the river after meeting her father. "He is handsome." Pocahontas sighed. "I know, but…"

"But you don't love him."

"That is not the problem Kairi. We never love our husbands when they are first chosen for us. The problem is that I do not think I will ever learn to love him." Kairi felt bad about the fact that they couldn't choose who they wanted to be with. "I'm lucky I guess.""Why is that?" Kairi didn't know how to explain herself. Sora was not her husband and there was no word for boyfriend, since women were given husbands right away. "I was talking about that fall into the river."

"Oh, not really lucky. You are just one with your world like I am. It is the way of our people." She got up and held out her hand for Kairi. "Come with me, I want to show you something. No one knows of it but me." Kairi took her hand, anxious to see what she was talking about.

She took her to a canoe, and they traveled down a river, with some rapids. Kairi had wind and crystal clean water in her face, going so fast, she felt so free. Then the river slowed, and ask the sky darkened, Pocahontas guided the canoe under a large tree. "Is that my Pocahontas?"

"The tree talks!!!"

"Of course I do, child, you just need to listen." Kairi sat next to Pocahontas on a stump that used to be part of the tree and listened as Pocahontas told "Grandmother Willow", her dream. Kairi was in a trance with the Willow singing and the wind and leaves flying around her. Pocahontas began to climb up the tree. Kairi knew she couldn't do that so she took the willow's advice. She closed her eyes, and gave herself over to her hearing, hoping to hear the spirits in the nature. "Strange clouds?" Pocahontas said while she was climbing. Pocahontas told Kairi of the "strange clouds." Kairi knew exactly what they were, but pretended not to. _Oh no, the British are coming._

_I never thought I'd see this first hand. It's sad._

Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy were among the last to get into the rowboat. John Smith had chosen them as part of his crew to go ashore first because of Sora's bravery. The men all looked afraid except for John. And the four of them of course. They were in a small rowboat, approaching land. Sora spotted someone in the distance. An Indian girl, no doubt. He motioned to Riku, but thought it best not to say anything because he didn't know the intentions of the other men. Then he saw someone behind the girl, another girl, but one that looked vaguely familiar… Then his eyes grew wide as he realized that it was Kairi, in another skin. He put his finger to his lips to tell them to be quiet.

Kairi saw a rowboat and knew why they were here. She saw Sora in the rowboat, and though she was relieved and ecstatic, she had to stay quiet. Pocahontas couldn't know she knew him yet. Sora put his finger to his lips. "What is the young one doing?"

"I think he's telling us to be quiet.""How do you know?""I just, have a feeling."

One of the white men, that seemed to be the leader, climbed up a tree in front of the rock they were watching from. Kairi and Pocahontas slowly backed up and hid behind the bush. The only problem was that Miko, the raccoon, ran up to the man. He turned around, and noticed the animal and fed him something which Miko seemed to really enjoy. He put his food in the air and faced Pocahontas. Then the man walked to where Pocahontas was. Luckily, Flit distracted him, and made him drop his food all over, and Miko collected all of it, while Pocahontas and Kairi remained safe. Then another man called for the man.

Kairi accompanied Pocahontas to a tribe meeting. The chief asked an older member to tell them what he sees in a vision regarding the new visitors. Kairi was amazed at what the old man could do by throwing different things into the fire. A large blue cloud appeared with images that only the old man could read. He described their malicious intent, their advanced weapons, and body armor. Kairi and Pocahontas went back out against her father's wishes.

The boys were told to dig for gold. Sora was astonished. "_That's _what we're here for?"

"Yes boy, what did you think?" He didn't answer, and reluctantly grabbed a shovel. Sora threw down his shovel when the governor was not looking. He told Riku to cover him as he went after John. "Hey! John!" He said once he got far enough away from the settlement. John turned around. "Isn't this land amazing."

"Yeah. Do you know why the governor's here?""No, but I know why I'm here. I crave the adventure that comes with a new land."

"Can I go with you?"

"Can you keep up?"

"Probably better than you think." John and Sora stopped for water.

The girls were following them, watching and observing. Not far behind. The man pulled out his gun, and despite Kairi's warnings, Pocahontas followed him closer. At the same time, John was on a rock ledge, aiming at Pocahontas. "No what are you doing?" Sora told him. "She's just a savage, calm down." Sora pleaded with him, but couldn't stop him, because he couldn't meddle. He would have if Kairi were the target anyway, but he suspected she was hiding. Thankfully, when John saw her up close, he lowered his gun. Kairi and Sora both breathed a sigh of relief at that.


	44. To Fulfill A Prophecy

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, except for my dog, Pookie.**

Kairi followed Pocahontas, as Sora followed John, both making sure to keep their distance. When they saw Pocahontas finally trust John enough to take his hand, they smiled and Kairi motioned for Sora to follow her, leaving the other two alone. Once they'd gotten a safe distance away from both the settlers and the natives, they sat down against a tree. Namine and Roxas were arguing about if Flit or Miko was cuter. "I really wish I could just turn them off sometimes." Sora told Kairi. She laughed. _We heard that._ But something definitely happened as soon as Sora said that. They vanished into thin air, only to open their eyes and realize they were in the tower in twilight town, with master Yen Sid.

He had a stern look on his face, more than usual, but not really a worried one. "Please, sit." The two did as the man asked, and he offered them a tea, to which they'd both declined. "Master Yen Sid, I'm sure this is important, but we've got to get back to the world we were in," Kairi started to go on but Yen Sid raised his hand. "They do not need you at this moment. When the time is right, you'll go back." He leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together. "Call your nobodies." _I really hate being called that._, thought Roxas. Kairi and Sora brought Roxas and Namine, and with a snap of his fingers, two more chairs appeared. Roxas and Namine sat down, wondering what was coming next.

"Roxas, Namine, you've done exceptionally well for the force of good, especially since it's worked against you by completely confining you to the minds of these two here." They shook their heads in thanks. "When the final battle is here, we need you to continue what you were doing all along. If we succeed, you'll both be released from confinement, into your own bodies and separated from Kairi and Sora's minds forever. Up until that time, I'm going to give Sora and Kairi a gift. I hope you will understand and use this to your advantage." He then turned towards Sora and Kairi. "I was informed by King Mickey and Merlin that I should grant you the ability to temporarily separate your minds and bodies from Roxas and Namine, in order to fulfill a prophecy. Wish them away such as you would do a keyblade, and call them back in the same way. This will work for only twelve hours, if by then you do not call them back, they'll come back automatically." He turned his attention back to Roxas and Namine. "I do realize that this seems highly unfair, but remember, if you succeed, it will be this way forever, you can be your own two people." They nodded their heads, and Kairi and Sora did the same. The fairies gave them the gift by sprinkling magic dust over the four of their heads. "Am I going to turn into a pumpkin if Kairi doesn't call me back in time?" Merryweather laughed at Namine's joke. "No dear."

Sora realized that he couldn't hear Roxas' thoughts. The rest of them noticed it soon afterward. For the first time in two years, they were really, truly, alone in their thoughts. It was nice for a change, being able to think whatever you like without the scrutiny of your nobody. And the nobodies weren't just sleeping, where Sora and Kairi still heard Roxas and Namines dreams, and there was a chance of them waking up, but they were all completely separated. Sora noticed Roxas taking Namine by the hand and pulling her up on stage to duel. "Have fun, guys." Kairi called out to them. Sora turned to her and took both her hands. "Let's go get some sea salt ice cream." A bright smile lit across her face as he led her to Twilight Town's general store.

Sora paid for the ice cream, as well as two train tickets, to the other side of twilight town, where the underground tunnels leading to Ansem's study were at. They climbed up the hill first, eating their ice cream on the ledge, watching the sunset. Then he looked at her as twilight set in, "Bet you ten bucks I can kill more heartless than you can." He had a childish smile on his face. She rolled her eyes, stood on her feet, and dusted herself off before finally calling her keyblade and sprinting for the tunnels, where the majority of the heartless resided.

Kairi was panting, she rested her hands on her knees when the tunnel they'd gone into was finally free of heartless. "No fair, you've had more practice, and you're a guy." She told Sora. He smiled and put his arm around her, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She noticed a golden door down the hall. "What's over there?" He looked and realized that they'd gone into the tunnel with Ansem's study inside. "You know Ansem."

"Yes."

"That's his study."

"Can we see it?" Sora lifted his key and the door unlocked, he checked for Mickey before bringing Kairi in, she wasn't really supposed to be in there. He motioned for her to come inside. They closed the door quietly behind them, not noticing a small figure standing in the corner of one of the hallways.

It was Mickey, and though he'd seen them go into Ansem's study, even though Kairi was not supposed to, he did nothing. Something told him to do nothing, to leave. But he wasn't sure what it was.

They sat on the small red sofa, and talked about different ways to kill heartless, finally being free of Roxas and Namine, and then Sora showed Kairi the painting of Ansem. Then out of the corner of her eye, she caught the book with information about the chasers. The one with the last page missing, the page that she'd found, and read. She felt a tear form in her eye. Sora wiped the tear, and kissed her eyebrow. "What's wrong?" She sat down on the couch and motioned for him to sit next to her, he did. She pointed to the book on the shelf, and he nodded his head, but was still confused. "Why are you crying though?" She struggled to find the words. "I read the last page." His expression went from concerned to aggravated. "What?! You knew you weren't supposed to do that! And you didn't even tell me?! Why, Kairi? What's going on? What does it say?" He realized that he'd been raising his voice, and he took a deep breath and sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her. "I'm sorry," he said, calmer now, "Why didn't you tell me?" She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked him deep into his eyes. "Because it doesn't end well."

"I wonder what prophecy Yen Sid was talking about," Namine said, while bouncing a ball back and forth to Roxas on the duel stage. "I dunno, why?"

"It seemed important." She shrugged. Roxas stood up and offered his hand to Namine, pulling her to her feet. "I don't know, but we need to go stock up on healing potions, before we're called back by them." They went off to the general store.

"Where are they?!" Donald panicked while the settlers and natives were preparing for the very large battle. "I don't know, but I suppose their with the King." Goofy told him. Riku was practicing shooting his rifle, and Donald had just noticed this. "What do you think you're doing?"  
"Shooting a rifle." A large blast went off, and Donald saw a branch fall from a tree. "Nice shot," Goofy told him. "Thanks." Donald was angry at the fact that no one was listening to him. "Can we focus please? Kairi has been missing since we got here, and Roxas and Sora are M.I.A. What are we going to do?" Riku shot another bullet. "Donald, I'm sure they didn't just disappear. They were probably summoned by the king. Calm down." Donald stomped off, and then ran when he discovered he was being chased by the large man's dog.

"What do you mean?" Sora said, genuinely scared. This was the first time throughout the last three and a half years of this life, where he was actually losing his optimism. It's not easy to be optimistic when a prophecy tells you you won't win. "I can't remember the exact words, but looking at the page, it described this exact battle, saying light wouldn't win just yet. That someone else would bring light to victory. Not us."

"That doesn't mean we'll lose, just that we'll have to keep fighting."

"We'll always have to keep fighting. I think it means that we'll lose the battle, not the war. I know we'll lose this battle, but I don't know _who_ we'll lose in it." She barely got that last sentence out without beginning to cry again.

Sora saw the look of fear, genuine terror, in her eyes, and wished there were something that he could say or do, something that would make it better, or at least make her feel better. But he wasn't completely focused on her. He was very scared too, not at losing, that he could live with, he couldn't stand the thought of losing her, his chest ached at the mere thought, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. And his worst nightmare, was that he himself would die, leaving Kairi all alone, to fend for herself. No one to protect her, all the while dealing with the pain of him being gone. He didn't want her to experience the torture that he would feel if he lost her. Not really knowing what else to do, he wiped the tears from her cheeks, and pushed her hair back gently, while kissing her and holding her softly.


	45. Sea Salt Side Effects

**Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Kingdom Hearts.**

**WARNING: I recommend you skip this chapter if you still don't know where babies come from. Though I won't go too into detail.**

Kairi woke up the next morning, next to Sora on Ansem's sofa. She turned around to face him, and found that he was still sleeping. She laid her head on his chest and timed her breathing to the rhythm of his heart beat. Then she pinched herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming. Then she noticed the calendar on the wall, and totally forgot what day it was. June 2nd. Sora's seventeenth birthday. They can't exactly keep track of the days when they are out fighting battles. She brought herself back into reality, and what an incredible reality it was.

She replayed the previous night in her mind. After pushing her hair back and kissing her on Ansem's sofa, they began kissing more, like they do occasionally. But this time it was almost impossible to stop. Normally they would eventually tire and quit their make out session, but this time, she felt different. Instead of becoming tired, the more and more they kissed, the more alive she felt. Her heart felt five times too big, and everywhere her skin touched his she felt a warm, tingling sensation. She ran her fingers through his hair, and pulled lightly. He put his hand underneath her head when he kissed her. She knew what they were doing halfway into it, though how they'd gotten there, she had no clue. She was too focused on the passion she felt than what they were leading up to. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Her heart stopped. The only thing she could think was "Crap." The door was locked, so she hoped they would go away, but the keyhole began turning shortly after. Her hair was in mats, but she combed through it with her fingers as fast as she could. She slipped her dress on but didn't have time for the shoes. She turned quickly, remembering a sleeping Sora on the couch, but he wasn't there. He popped his head up behind the couch, with a finger to his lips telling her to be quiet. He motioned her to come hide next to him, but it was too late. The door opened, revealing a tall wizard wearing a purple robe. She knew her face was as red as a strawberry, but she tried to act as casual as possible. "Oh, uh, hey Merlin, what's up?" _Fail._ To make it worse, she slurred some of the words.

Merlin stood there dumbfounded, for what seemed like forever. She thought of what to do but there was really no way to explain the couch cushions strewn across the floor with clothes on top of them. She realized the only thing that was an option, was to wait for him to speak again. When he did, it didn't help much. He simply went back behind the couch, as if he knew where Sora would be hiding. Sora gave him an oh-crap-I-got-caught-I'll-just-try-to-look-as-innocent-as-possible smile. Merlin averted his eyes, and walked back towards the door, with his hand on his beard, as if he were trying to solve the worlds hardest riddle. Then he said only six words. "Hmm, so that's what it meant." Then she saw a huge smile cross his face, though she was totally lost as to _why._ Then he slipped out the door before they had a chance to ask what that was supposed to mean.

Sora dressed quickly, and was done by the time Kairi had finished putting on her shoes. He hugged and kissed her, and while still holding her, looked into her eyes. "Well, I never thought sea salt ice cream would lead to that…" he said. "Not that I'm complaining." She winced, knowing that what they had done was irresponsible for their age, but not regretting it one bit. "Did we really…" she said with her eyes still closed. "Well, yeah. You okay?"

"Actually, great. But I do need some fresh air." Kairi wanted to be alone, to think about what all this meant and how it would change things. "I'll go with-", she interrupted him by kissing him. "No, I'd prefer to go alone." He looked a little hurt, but agreed. He said he'd be at the hill. The hill was this place on one side of Twilight Town, where you could see the sunset and sunrise. It was where they were before going to Ansem's study. Sora looked at his watch. They had three hours before their nobodies returned to them, at which time they'd try to get back to the world they were in. It was nice to have a break once in awhile.

Kairi went to the waterfall, where Roxas once fought his reflection. She rinsed her face, and when she looked up again, she noticed the reflection of a girl behind her. She turned around. Namine was standing there, sipping a soda, leaning against a post with one leg in front of the other. She had a mischievous smile across her face. She took one more sip, enjoying the scared look on Kairi's face. "What are you doing here?" Namine smiled again. "The better question is, where have _you_ _and Sora _been?" _What? She couldn't possibly know,_ she thought. Then she thought that being gone all night with a guy would look suspicious to anyone. "We ate our sea salt ice cream and watched the sunset, and kinda passed out on the hill. Excellent_. That was _totally_ believable. Much better performance than Merlin earlier._ Namine giggled. "Funny, Ansem's study door was wide open, and the couch cushions were a little messed up." She let that simmer for about five seconds before she added, "By the way, where's your other earring?" Kairi's jaw dropped. _She knew the whole time._ She lifted her hand to her left earlobe, and her right, and found that the right one was missing. She had to face it. There was no way of getting out of this one. She just shrugged her shoulders, facing Namine, with a look that said "You got me." Namine laughed and went over to Kairi and hugged her. "I can't believe it Kairi. I'm supposed to be the wild, rebellious side of you." She said it with humor, smiling while fixing the back of Kairi's hair. "Look, you can't say anything, okay? Even to Roxas." Namine looked guilty. Kairi took a deep breath. "You told Roxas?"

"No, but I found your earring in the study and Roxas took it. He's on the hill with Sora right now."

Sora sat down with his legs dangling over the edge of the hill. He buried his face in his hands, and rubbed his tired eyes. Then he fell backward, onto the grass. He put his hands behind his head, the way he usually did, and took in the warm glow of the early sunlight. He took a deep breath and his mind raced back to the previous night.

He remembered thinking while kissing Kairi the last night on the sofa, that no matter how things turned out in the end, as long as she was right there with him, he'd get through it. She was like his inspiration. His heart normally raced when he saw her, but if that was a street race, then this feeling was the Daytona 500. He felt different than he normally did. And when he felt her tugging at his shirt, he noticed hers on the floor. He wanted to stop, to ask if this was really what she wanted, but he paused and looked into her eyes, they were wide and glossy, not like she wanted to cry, more like she was telling him that she loved him with her eyes. The whole time they were together, he couldn't think of anything but her. The smell of her hair, her warm skin, the passion he saw in her eyes, and the softness and fullness of her lips. He knew she was the person he would want to be with forever, and longer, if possible. Then he remembered the sound. She was mostly quiet, except for occasionally whispering in his ear, "I love you, Sora," and the like. Which wasn't a lot, but it beat him. He would've had trouble remembering his name if she hadn't have kept reminding him by saying that. He couldn't mutter a word, his heavy breathing was the only sound coming from him.

He remembered waking up the next morning to a knock at the door, panicked, he jumped behind the couch, still butt naked other than a sheet wrapped around him. He saw her frantically trying to dress herself in the little amount of time she had, and wanted to tell her to come hide by him, but if he made a sound, that door would open right away. Finally, she looked over and he motioned her, she smiled at him, with her messed up hair and one earring missing, but it was too late. He ducked down, figuring the sight of him, uh, indecent, would only get her in more trouble. It was Merlin. Merlin came over and saw him, so he flashed him a smile, praying that the old man couldn't tell what had happened, though even for a two-thousand year old wizard, it was a long shot. He walked away, and for a second Sora was relieved. Then he muttered "Hmm, so that's what it meant." _What did _that_ mean? _They seemed to both think at the same time.

Sora started replaying it in his mind again, but this time, he stopped on one very important part of the story. "she smiled at him, with her messed up hair and one earring missing." He bolted upright and hopped to his feet. _The earring!_ They had cleaned up the room before they left, except, where was that earring? If Mickey found it, or Ansem, or even someone else… His heart stopped beating in his chest. He ran towards Ansem's study, and smacked right into Roxas.

"Whoa! Where you racing to? Where's Kairi?"

"Uh, she said she had to get some air…" He tried going around Roxas, but he held out his palm and Sora saw something glisten in the sun. "Is this what you're looking for?" Sora nodded yes. Roxas seemed to ponder what to do now. Sora tried to take it out of his hand, but Roxas withdrew his palm. "This is Kairi's earring." He said, holding it up in the sunlight. "Why was it stuck in a couch pillow in Ansem's study?" He said, even though he probably already knew the answer to that question. Sora tried to change the subject, but it never worked. Oh, well… "What were you doing in Ansem's study? I'm the only one allowed in there."

"One, you're changing the subject. Two, I'm technically you, so that means I can go in. Three, they must have changed the rules since it's obvious that Kairi was in there last night. And four, I was looking for you, and I searched all over the rest of the town, with the study being the last place I looked." Sora gave up and took a deep breath. "Kairi was in the study with me." Roxas laughed victoriously. "Dude, did you get lucky?" Sora was slightly offended by his statement. "God, Roxas. Could you be any more disrespectful?" Roxas looked up towards the sky, then back again. "Uh, yeah. Dude, did you get la…" Sora punched him playfully in the chest. "Don't go there. Does Namine know?"

"She suspects. She's the one that found the earring, but she's talking to Kairi right now." He motioned over towards the waterfall, which you could see in the distance from the hill. Kairi and Namine were hugging.


	46. The Separation

Sora and Roxas were walking down the hill to meet Namine and Kairi. Roxas was giggling. "Uh, Roxas? What's so funny?"

"I don't know. It's just that I'm supposed to be the rebellious side of you. And look what you did."

"Don't you have someone's body to return to? Like mine?"

"Calling me back won't stop me from teasing you in your head." Sora realized he was right.

At the bottom of the hill, it was hard for Kairi to meet Sora's eyes. Though he couldn't understand why. He knew that not being able to meet someone's eyes shows guilt. But what could she possibly feel guilty for? Namine was the first to speak. "So, we should get back."

"Yen Sid said we'd be summoned." Roxas replied.

Kairi looked up, but not at Sora, and held up a piece of paper, "I found this, in the waterfall. It's the first time we've ever received a message in a bottle from King Mickey from a body of water other than an ocean." Sora's heart stopped in his chest. _Don't panic. He can't possibly know, or care. _"Okay," he said, trying to sound like it was no big deal. "Did you read it?" Kairi nodded her head and opened it. She read aloud. "King Mickey and Merlin the Wizard wish to see Kairi and Sora in the King's throne room immediately. Roxas and Namine should be in attendance as well. This is urgent." Kairi took a deep breath. "That could be anything," Sora lied. He took Kairi by the hand as Roxas did with Namine, and they made their way through the tunnels, the quickest way to the King's Castle.

Roxas and Namine walked ahead of Sora and Kairi, for a change. Still hand in hand, Roxas turned to Namine, his face red. "So…" Namine didn't even have to look at his face to know what he was thinking. "No." Roxas looked bummed. "We need to focus on what the letter means. It sounds serious."

"Like Sora said, it could be anything."

"Yes, but given the time and way we received the message, it probably has to do with them." She said, tilting her head towards Sora and Kairi.

"Try not to worry," he told Kairi as he kissed the top of her head. She was unresponsive. "Kairi?"

"What if they know?"

"Who cares if they know? What are they going to possibly do? Send us over to the dark side?" He said, giggling a little bit. She laughed, but it seemed forced. "What if this was a mistake?" Sora's heart felt like it had turned to stone. "How so?"

"What if it caused too much of a distraction? What if it's the one thing that will keep the light from winning this battle?" Sora remembered the last time she felt like a distraction, she told him they should be friends only. He absolutely couldn't take it. The memory brought a tear to his eye. Kairi saw it just before he blinked it back. He couldn't tell her that she wasn't a distraction, because he'd be lying. She was _always _on his mind. But it didn't keep him from doing his job. "Sora, I love you, but you have to consider the consequences of what we've done." He became a little less saddened and a little more angered. "Kairi? How can you say that? You knew what we were doing, in fact, you initiated it. How can you tell me this after all that?" Kairi looked shocked by his expression. He withdrew his hand and walked a few steps in back of her. She put her head down, and kept walking, towards the King's Castle.

Sora could have sworn those doors had a skull and crossbones on it. He blinked and it was gone. Maybe he was scared they'd know. He felt a little guilty about getting mad at Kairi an hour earlier, on their way to the throne room, but she looked so withdrawn, and they were here. He decided he would apologize the next chance he got. Roxas opened the doors for everyone, and the four of them slowly walked towards the throne, where King Mickey, Queen Minnie, and Merlin were. King Mickey was standing, which was highly unusual for him. Merlin and Queen Minnie were sitting at his right and left side. Kairi noticed Princess Aurora and Princess Cinderella standing off to the side of the room, near the wall. They stopped, Sora directly in front of Mickey, Kairi to his right, Roxas to his left, and Namine to Roxas' left. King Mickey stepped down from the platform on which the thrones were placed, walked up to Kairi, and bowed. "Princess." Kairi bowed back, completely in shock. She was a princess, yes, but Mickey had never bowed to her before. Why would he? He's a king. Mickey nodded his head at Sora, and went back up on the platform, sitting on his throne.

The three of them had a very stern, but not a mad, look on their face. Mickey cleared his throat. Merlin snapped his fingers and four chairs appeared behind the four of them. "Please, sit." Mickey wasn't talking like he was himself. He wasn't cheery, like normal. Sora became a little worried. He tried to take Kairi's hand, but as he did, she folded her arms across her chest, and leaned back in her chair, avoiding eye contact. _Ah, I'm such a jerk._ He made it a must to apologize later. Mickey took a deep breath, before looking directly at Sora. "There has been a change in the battle plan." Sora became a little relieved, thinking maybe it's not about them. "Merlin has brought to my attention an incident that occurred last night in Ansem's study. Only the four of you, Merlin, and I know about it. It needs to stay that way. It will become too much of a distraction." The four of them nodded their heads, too afraid to say anything else. "Now, Kairi,"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Go with Aurora and Cinderella, they need to show you something." Kairi wasn't sure why, but did as she was told. Sora watched her walk away. She turned as she walked to look at him, but when she met his eyes, she quickly turned back. Sora saw Aurora and Cinderella open up a magic portal, though it was blurred, he couldn't see where they were taking her. They walked through, the portal closed, and the remaining three turned their attention back to Mickey. "Shouldn't I have gone with her?" asked a very confused Namine. "No, my dear. Do you all remember Yen Sid told you that you would become entirely separate from Sora and Kairi's bodies once you proved yourselves in battle?" When they nodded he continued. "Well, things have changed and now you are your own separate persons. You'll still be able to communicate with each other through your minds, but only when you want to. Except Kairi, you won't be able to communicate with her." Sora started getting a little worried. "Where did they take her?"

"Somewhere safe." Now he was much more worried. "When is she coming back?" Mickey didn't respond. Sora became angered, "What's going on?" Roxas and Namine joined Sora as he stood. "You're all out way out of line, sit." Merlin ordered. Reluctantly, they did. Mickey looked at Sora, then at the other two. "Kairi may no longer fight in the upcoming battle; It's too dangerous for her." Namine stood, again. "Since when?" Merlin stood. "Namine! Sit!" She hesitated, but did. "Why?" Sora replied, angry and saddened, but mostly confused. "The enemy knows your weakness. She's too much of a distraction and a risk. You'll see her after the battle."

"When is that?" Mickey didn't reply. "You're all dismissed." Merlin told them. Mickey and Minnie looked saddened, but didn't move. Sora stood, "No! I deserve to know!" With that, they were all ejected out of the throne room, and found themselves back in the world they were in before.

Namine, now the color of an Indian, and Sora and Roxas, joined Riku, Donald, and Goofy overlooking Pocahontas and John Smith speaking about the upcoming battle between the Indians and British soldiers. "What happened to you guys?" Riku asked them. "Tell you later, what'd we miss?" Replied Roxas. " The Indians summoned other tribes and the white men are preparing to battle. Pocahontas and John Smith agreed to meet here and she's trying to get him to go talk to her father." The listened in on the conversation. "Look, the ripples." Pocahontas told John. "What about them?" Grandmother Willow replied, "Look at how they grow, they start so small. It just takes someone to start them."

"They're not going to listen to us," John said.

"Young man, sometimes the right path is not the easiest one." She told him. Sora seemed to think about this, but dismissed it. Mickey owed him an answer, at least. "Don't you see? Only when the fighting stops, can you be together." She pushed John towards Pocahontas, then winked at Sora, without anyone else seeing. _She seems to be talking to me as well._


	47. Honey, I shrunk the keybearers

Everyone closed their eyes at Pocahontas and John shared a kiss, until they heard a battle cry come from an Indian that Pocahontas was supposed to marry. They watched in horror, not being able to do anything, as Kokoum beat John with a club, and then Thomas shot a bullet straight into his chest, throwing him to the ground. Sora winced at the amount of violence. Many Indian warriors captured John and took him back to the village. Riku announced that it was probably time to separate. "I don't feel comfortable with that. Namine will go to the village alone?"

"She's their color, she'll be safe." Riku convinced him. Roxas kissed Namine. "I love you." Namine stood there in shock. Roxas wasn't one to say something like that. "I love you too." She let go of his hand, reluctantly, and followed the warriors back to the village, while the rest of them went back to the camp.

It was very hard for Namine to stand in the background with the rest of the women while Pocahontas was blamed for Kokoum's death. She was forbidden from intervening, though. Any change to any story could tip the balance of good and evil.

The rest of them followed Thomas as he ran into the camp, shouting, "The savages got him!" The soldiers all came out from their tents and looked to be preparing for battle. The general saw them standing there, and said "Get ready, gentleman." He walked away. Sora put on his battle gear reluctantly, wondering why he was even fighting on King Mickey's side in the first place. King Mickey was supposed to be on _his_ team. Why would he take Kairi away? She's his biggest weakness but also his greatest inspiration. He doesn't have a morale without her. The weapons were sharpened, the guns were thrown to the soldiers, who all caught them, shouting, and waving their guns in the air.

Namine saw as Miko gave Pocahontas a round, golden compass, and she realized that the arrow in her dream was pointing to John. Namine saw the glow in Pocahontas' eyes when she discovered what she must do. She followed.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Riku marched reluctantly in line with the other soldiers, behind the general, towards the village. Sora was afraid they were going to have to fight, but then they stopped. "Why're we stopping?" One of the soldiers said to another. "Look!" Said Donald. Everyone looked to see Pocahontas leaning over John Smith as he was about to be killed. Her father stopped abruptly. Pocahontas told her father they were no better than the white men, that this is where the path of hatred begins. Her father looked towards the men holding the guns, then to the men holding the bows and the arrows. The wind surrounded him as he took it all in. It seemed to speak to him. The white men lowered their guns, and the Indian chief spoke to everyone. "She speaks with wisdom beyond her years, we've come with hatred, but she comes with understanding. From this day forward, if there is to be more killing, it will not start with me." Both sides seem to be moved by the love that John and Pocahontas shared. Bows were lowered as more guns were.

Sora and the group breathed a sigh of relief. Until the general said "Here's our chance. Fire!" They looked desperately to both sides, hoping no one would listen. Thankfully, no one did. He shot at the chief himself, and John blocked the shot, wounding himself. That's when the entire army turned against the general. The general was taken as prisoner by his own people, put in chains and gagged.

As John's ship was being prepared, Namine joined the rest of the group, and they all met on the beach. Namine jumped into Roxas' arms. "Thank God." He said. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen." She kissed his forehead, and while everyone seemed to be a bit baffled, they all turned their attention back to Pocahontas and John as Namine jumped down. Namine nearly cried when she saw that the animals reassembled Pocahontas' broken necklace. They watched the tearful goodbye, and expected to automatically reappear in the gummi ship. But they didn't. Instead, time froze, and the water began moving.

"Chaser!" Namine shouted, pointing at the water. A chaser that looked like a cross between a submarine and a bull, emerged from the water. It was their biggest one yet. It rushed into shore, and almost hit the innocent frozen bystanders, but Riku deflected the claw with his key blade. "I can't keep this up for long!" He shouted. Sora wasn't thinking straight. He couldn't without knowing where Kairi was.

_She's safe. Focus._

_You can hear my thoughts?_

_Mickey said we can when we need to. Let's go._Sora shook his head, and blinked his eyes and he tried to focus on the monster. He reminded himself how if this war wasn't going on, Kairi would be in his arms. He felt a new sensation in his body, and he spun into the air, landing in an all black suit, with his hair turned so red it looked like it was on fire. His boots lit on fire, and his key blade started glowing as if it were on fire as well. He knew it was a knew drive form, and as he landed on his feet, crouched, and ready to go at the chaser with all his soul, he heard something in his head say _RAGE FORM. __Awesome! I've got an idea!_

_What?_

_You're boots can lift you off the ground. Fly onto the chasers back, and stab him. Riku will keep deflecting his attacks, and if you do that it will distract him long enough to stab him in the heart._ Sora nodded his head, and wished himself up, his boots lit on fire like jetpacks and he flew above the chaser, hovering. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to control this new form yet, so he wasn't quick enough, the chaser turned just it time and waved his hand so hard, he knocked Sora at least fifty feet into the water. Roxas tried to stab his heart while he was turned, but he turned back to quickly. He threw Roxas into a tree, knocking him unconscious. "Roxas!" Namine said that too loud, and the chaser almost hit her too, but Riku was on fire today, not literally, like Sora, but on his game. He deflected and Namine ran towards Roxas. She healed him just as Sora reached the beach. Riku called Roxas and told him to deflect, he did as best he could. Riku lowered his key blade and motioned to Sora, who immediately knew what to do. Sora brought all his rage and loss into his heart, and fueled himself back into rage form, launching himself as quick as possible at Riku's key blade. He jumped onto it, and leapt off of it quickly, while Riku lifted it up as well. This gave Sora an advantage as he was too inside the chaser's zone for him to knock Sora out of the way. Sora stabbed the chaser through the heart, and the chaser disintegrated, leaving a key blade sinking into the sea. Sora wished it into his hand.

Time unfroze. Sora walked over to Pocahontas. "I'd like to give you this gift, in return, I ask for a favor." He handed Pocahontas the key blade. "There may come a time when we need you to fight for the greater good." Pocahontas wasn't sure what he meant. But she shook her head and handed it back to him. "I will not fight, but I can help." She handed Sora John's compass. When Sora grabbed it, he noticed that it combined with the key blade, a small compass was now engraved in the handle, but no one else seemed to notice. "Carry this with you. When you need it, focus on the wind, and when you need it, it will go where you wish." And with that Sora closed his eyes and focused. He pointed his key blade towards the sea, and noticed that he now had the power to control strong gusts of wind. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "Thank you. I'm afraid our ship is leaving." The chief acknowledged them. "May the wisdom of your ancestors be with you." Then they turned and walked back to their village, while the rest of them blinked their eyes to find that they were now in the gummi ship.

Riku didn't even have time to ask the usual question, "where to?" The gummi ship immediately spun and then they all blacked out. Sora woke up to a woman's voice. "Andy, there was one more birthday present that I just found at the doorstep. I don't know who left it, all of your friends have already gone home."

"Wow, cool! Thanks mom." Sora felt his weight being shifted, and he looked around, he was still in the gummi ship, and the others were too, just now starting to wake. But the gummi ship was all cardboard on the inside. Then he realized that the woman was handing the "box" to Andy, the woman's home. "Did she just say we were a birthday present?" asked Goofy. "Duh!" Donald replied. Andy spoke up again. "It's in a space ship! Maybe it's a friend for my new Buzz Lightyear!" Sora felt the cardboard box open, but he suddenly couldn't move a muscle. He was aware of everything going on, he just couldn't move, or even blink. The others looked the same way. Andy turned the box upside down, and Sora and the rest of the group fell onto his bed. "Cool! New toys!"

"You can play with them tomorrow, sweetie. But now it's bedtime."

"Aw…." Andy's mom kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Andy."

"Night mom." Then the lights went out.


	48. Submitting to The Claw

_As soon as it was possible, they got up and moved around. They weren't sure why they became paralyzed, they also weren't sure why this kid was a giant._ "Dude," Roxas told Riku, "Did that kid just call us 'toys"? They looked up at him sleeping, and noticed some toys coming to life. A spaceman, a cowboy, a dinosaur, and others. Namine screamed. Roxas looked at them, then back at her. "Oh my God, Namine! You're a Barbie!"

"Excuse me Roxas are you trying to call me high maintenance because if you are…" Sora cut her off. "No, Namine, you really _are_ a Barbie." Namine screamed again after looking in the mirror. She was a blonde Barbie wearing a long white dress. Of course. Then Sora looked. He was an anime action figure, as was Riku. Donald and Goofy were now duck and dog beanie babies, but still somehow managed to look like themselves. And how they could walk with beans for legs, Namine didn't know. Roxas was the last to step in front of a mirror. Sora and Riku were trying not to laugh. "Damnit, I'm a Ken."

"A super surfer Ken" Riku added, not being able to contain his laughter any longer. Roxas had a puzzled look, then a red-faced Namine pointed at his shirt. Roxas looked down and read aloud. "Super Surfer Ken: Lifeguard". Roxas sighed. "Seriously?" 

"Oh honey, I think you look cute." Namine teased Roxas. "Yes, you do." Another voice said. Namine looked angry and looked around to see who said it. "Hello there. I'm Bo Peep." Namine looked even more angry when she saw the other blonde "toy". 

"Hey, I'm Namine, this is Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Roxas, my _boyfriend._ So um, what kind of a name is Bo Peep anyways?"

"Uh, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to offend you." Namine kinda felt a little dumb after jumping to conclusions, Sora and Riku were giggling, and creepily, Roxas looked a little turned on. "Sorry." 

After many introductions later, Sheriff Woody, the cowboy dude, called a "Staff meeting." Sora laughed every time he heard it called that. Woody stood on the pedestal. "Well, I'd like to welcome the new toys to Andy's room. Including Sora, Roxas, Riku, Namine, Donald, Goofy, and uh, Buzz Lightyear." He said the last name under his breath. It was obvious Woody didn't like the Space Dude. "Now, I know that none of you believe that you are, in fact, _toys."_ Sora told him, "No, we know that. We just don't get _why. _We were human just an hour ago." Every toy in the room gasped. "What do you mean?" asked a dachschund whose name was Slink. Riku answered, "We mean that we used to look like him," Riku said while pointing at a sleeping Andy. Everyone gasped again. "Well," Riku went on, "except for them, they were a real dog and duck. Kind of." Everyone gasped, yet again. "Doesn't that get old?" Roxas said to Sora. The dinosaur was the first one to speak, after a minute of hear silence. "Can you tell us more?" They were relieved that they were still accepted and not shunned after that revelation.

They talked through the night, after discovering that "toys" didn't need sleep. When Andy stirred the next morning, Woody shouted, everyone back to your positions! He'll be waking up! The group of them jumped onto the end of the bed where they were left the night before, they became paralyzed and Andy woke up. For most of the day Andy played with all of them, and they didn't get many breaks between. Only when Andy's mom needed him or when he went to the bathroom. As the sun was about to set, Andy's mom called and said that they could all go to some place called Pizza Palace, and was told he could bring only one toy. He left the room, and everyone got up. Sora was talking to Bo Peep when he saw a large ball falling, nearly crushing Buzz. Riku was closest, so he dodged, but didn't make it in time. Luckily, Buzz got in the window sill, safe out of harm's way. Or so they all thought. The ball, which turned out to be a globe, by the way, knocked into a lamp, swinging it around, and then the lamp knocked Buzz off the windowsill, onto the ground below. "Buzz!" Everyone shouted as they ran to the windowsill. "Can you hear us?" Sora turned to Roxas, "Someone should stay here."

"You and Riku can handle this one. I'm just a Ken. Maybe your new suits come with Kung Fu." Sora laughed. He nodded to Riku and the two of them dove out the window, vaguely hearing the other toys beginning to accuse Woody of "murder."

On the ground below, they had just found Buzz when the three of them heard a car start. Buzz looked through the bushes. "Let's go, space cadets," he told them. Sora shrugged and Riku laughed, and they watched him jump onto the car's bumper, and realized that they should follow. While stopped at a gas station, they all climbed into the car through a sunroof. They stood in the background watching the building tension between Woody and Buzz. "Five bucks on Buzz," Riku told Sora. "I'll take that bet." Sora always did have a thing for rooting for the underdog. They rolled under the car, and Sora and Riku went to the edge of the seat, looking down at the ground, waiting for the victor to climb back into the car first. That's when they heard the engine start. "Uh-oh." Was all they could say.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Pizza Planet, with no Woody, and no Buzz. "So, genius that decided to jump out the window, what's the plan of action now?" Riku elbowed Sora playfully. "Uh…" Then he saw a cup and a cheeseburger box sneak through security, and he knew who they were. When they ditched the cartons, Riku said, "How lucky was that?" Buzz jumped into a toy bin, Woody followed him, and Sora and Riku followed Woody. "Where have you guys been?" Sora asked them. Woody just shook his head. "Long story, now let's _go_ Buzz." 

"Not quite yet Sheriff. Hello, I'm Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace. Who is in charge here?" All the toy aliens in the bin pointed at the claw hanging above them, while saying "the claw," very unnecessarily dramatically. They looked up. Riku told Sora, "typical." Then Woody saw who was about to operate the claw. "Sid! Get down!" Sid was a kid that lived next to Andy, a boy that tortured toys. Sora learned that from Rex the day before. Sora and Riku immediately ducked. 

The claw picked up an alien, and Sora reached out his hand and told the alien to take it, which was against the rules, but he couldn't see the poor alien be blown to smithereens after thinking he was "being chosen". Yeah, chosen to die. The alien, however, didn't take it. "Farewell, my friends. I'm off to a better place." Woody shook his head in grief. Then the boy dropped another quarter in to play. He saw Buzz, and immediately, Woody knew who he was going to try and get. Woody grabbed onto Buzz's leg and then Sora and Riku grabbed onto his. The kid was excited to get four toys at the same time. "How are we going to get out of this one?" asked Riku. "I really don't know this time." Sora replied. 

They heard the kid arguing with his sister about a doll or something, they weren't paying that close attention. Then he ran up to his room. "No, not Sid's room", Woody said. "What's wrong with Sid's room?" Riku asked. "Sid tortures toys!" Woody told him. "He does operations on them and blows them up." He could have sworn that Woody gulped after saying that. "Well, that doesn't mean that's our destiny. We've gotten out of some pretty sticky situations before." 

"You'd better hope so."

"I don't believe that man's ever been to medical school." Sora heard Buzz say as Sid tried a "double-bypass brain transplant". Woody looked at him as if saying "Really?" When the kid left, Woody frantically started searching for a way out, but the door was locked. Sora and Riku thought it best to stay in the backpack. Buzz stayed with them. They stared in awe at all of the deformed toys. Buzz got out of the backpack then. "We should probably go save the cowboy from the spider baby." 

"Uh, you go ahead."

The next day, Sid left the door open as he went downstairs for breakfast. Woody looked up from the cereal bowl he'd dunked himself in after Sid burned him with a microscope and sunlight. "The door! It's open!" Woody took off and Buzz hesitated. "Wait, you don't know what's out there!" Woody used Buzz to get the other toys out of the way. Sora and Riku knew the drill. Riku followed Woody, Sora stayed with Buzz. Woody and Riku came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, were a mean looking dog was sleeping. They crept back upstairs, quietly as possible, and Buzz and Sora grabbed them and pulled them into a shadow. Buzz walked across the staircase, to the opposite side, where they wouldn't be seen by the dog. He waved over Sora, then Riku, then Woody. Woody came across. They thought they were home free until Sora heard a familiar voice say, "Yeeeha!", Woody looked absolutely horrified. Then in the next second they all pieced together the information. Woody's string got caught on the railing, and made the sound, that probably woke up the dog. When Riku saw the dog, he pointed quickly to it, saying, "shit." The dog walked leisurely up the stairs, so they weren't sure if it saw them. Then Buzz said to split up. They did just that. They hid from the dog, thankfully, they were successful. The dog went back downstairs. 

Sora and Riku came out of hiding. "Wait a minute," Riku said, "Where's Buzz?" Sora looked up at the railing. "Oh my god, he's going to try to fly! Buzz stop!" What went on in the room Buzz was hiding in? But Buzz didn't seem to hear them. He pressed the button on his chest that released his plastic wingspan, and dove off, shouting, "To infinity and beyond!" Buzz fell, hit a stair, then the ground. "Oh no!" They were going to go down to help him, but they stopped when they saw Sid's kind little sister pick Buzz up. 

They followed her to her room, where they collapsed and she set them and Buzz, along with a few other toys, up for a tea party. While she was pouring tea, they saw Woody enter the room, obviously confused. Woody faked Hannah's mother's voice. Woody ran over to them. Buzz appeared drunk, though they didn't know why. Woody saw Buzz's arm. "Okay I think you've had enough tea for today let's get you out of here." It was then, they discovered, that Buzz finally found out that he was a toy, just as Woody had been saying all along. 

Woody got the attention of Andy's toys in the next house over by climbing into the window. Meanwhile Buzz was using his broken arm to play airplane. "Have you all forgotten what he did to Buzz?" Mr. Potato head said from across the yard. "No, he's telling the truth," Sora yelled back, Riku nodded his head to agree. "And why should we believe you two huh?" Mr. Potato head went on, "You two were just as jealous as Woody!" _Mr. Potato head must have not had his Wheaties this morning_, Sora thought. If I looked jealous, or pissed, or whatever, it wasn't because I was jealous of the attention Buzz got. Woody was trying to talk Buzz into telling them that he was okay. "Give me a hand here Buzz!" So Buzz threw his arm up to Woody. "Very funny." Woody told him. Woody used Buzz's arm to try and fool the other toys, but he failed, because he made the mistake of taking Buzz's arm into full view, not connected to the rest of his body. He heard the screams of the other toys. Riku sat down. "We're screwed." Sora watched the toys disappear from the window. Only Slink, the dog, seemed to hesitate, but in time, he too, left. 

They looked around when they heard a creaking noise. The other toys in Sid's room had surrounded Buzz. "NO, get away!" Woody told them. He was thrown against the wall by the spider baby toy, and when he looked up, he saw that they had fixed Buzz's arm, along with the other toys. When they heard Sid coming, all of the toys started to hide. Woody, Sora, and Riku tried to pull Buzz under a basket with them, but ran out of time, when Sid bursted into his room, holding a box. He opened the box, and they saw an absolutely huge firework. "How those aren't illegal, I don't know." Sora told Woody. To which he replied, "They probably are. Sid has his ways." He taped Buzz to the small rocket. "I've always wanted to put a space man into orbit." Buzz would have been doomed if it hadn't started to rain. The kid banged his head against his window in frustration, staring at the brewing storm outside. Sid set his alarm clock, set to blow Buzz to smithereens in the morning. 

Woody needed an escape plan. He was trying to talk Buzz into it, but Buzz was severely depressed, once he came off his tea high. While Woody consoled Buzz, Riku and Sora started talking. "I'm sorry, Sora. About Kairi. I have no idea why they did that. It seems totally unfair."

"Thanks, Riku. And it does seem unfair. They said she would be too much of a distraction. I guess they were right. I still think about her, constantly. But now that she is in a safe place, her safety, and her life isn't my first priority like it used to be. I guess it put me in battle mode." Sora seemed to think about that. Riku decided not to bring it up again, seeing it pained Sora to talk about it. But Sora brought it up again anyway. "But, what they don't understand is that she is also my motivation, my inspiration. The reason I do this with unwavering loyalty for the light, for King Mickey." Riku nodded his head to show that he was listening. "You know, there were a few times that I considered changing sides." Riku looked shocked. "I know. It's terrible. But it would have been easier. Kairi's life wouldn't be in danger because the only side that would ever hurt her would be the side we were on if I switched. My life too." Riku remembered that he used to be on that side. He was hurt too, when he was on the dark side. "You hurt me when I was on that side. You would hurt anyone on that side. You think anyone would hesitate to kill you if you fought in the name of evil?"

"No, they probably would kill me. But they wouldn't hurt her."

"So," Riku started to ask. "What made you decide to stay where you were at?" Sora took a few deep breaths before explaining further. "Kairi is… She's the light inside me. The pureness in my heart. She makes me be something greater, something good, someone she can believe in and trust, and for other people to believe in and trust too. I couldn't let her down. I mean, if she wasn't in the picture, I would probably still choose the light. But she made the choice a whole lot easier." 

They were quiet for a few moments. "Now I have a question for you." Sora looked at Riku. He seemed to get a little defensive. He knew what this next question would be, and he didn't quite know how to answer it. They heard something above them, and it looked like Riku had some time to think of an answer. Buzz was trying to get them out. He pushed a tool box with all his ability, over the crate that Woody, Sora, and Riku were in. Woody jumped out with Sora and Riku, but Buzz didn't hear them, he kept pushing and the toolbox fell on top of them. "Ow." Sora said, as he rubbed his head and pulled a screw out of his ear. They climbed out from under the toy box, just when Sid's alarm rang. "I don't remember being in that crate that long, do you?"

"We must've fallen asleep before we got to talking" Sora told Riku. Sid woke up and took Buzz off with him, still strapped to the rocket. Woody and Sora and Riku started to chase after him but the dog saw them. The three of them were barely able to shut the door to keep the dog out of Sid's room.

They began rouding up Sid's toys to help out Buzz while Sid prepared for launch. The plan worked! The dog got locked outside and Woody, along with Sora, Riku, and some other toys, raced towards the backyard on a skateboard. They landed in a bush, fairly close to the "launch pad." Woody collapsed on the ground, on the way to Buzz. Sid picked him up, tossing him onto the barbeque. Right when he was about to light Buzz, Woody broke the rules, he made himself talk. Then, when Sid was freaked out enough, the other toys began moving on their own, towards Sid, resembling zombies. The boy freaked. He screamed while he was being surrounded, obviously scared out of his mind. Once, Sora even felt kinda bad for him. "Maybe Sid will be okay, you know, act better, and take better care of his stuff from now on." Sora told Riku. He shrugged. "It's a longshot." Sid dropped Woody after Woody pulled an exorcist move on Sid. He screamed and ran into his house, slamming the door behind him. 

"Thanks guys, we gotta run!" Woody told Sid's toys, as he, Buzz, Sora, and Riku ran out to catch the van, that had just taken off. Woody, Sora, and Riku climbed on, then realized that Buzz was not there, he was stuck, in the fence, because of the rocket. They jumped off, Woody got him out from the fence, and they all raced to catch the van. They saw it drive away. They felt hopeless, until they saw out of the corner of their eye, a large shadow. "Chaser!" Sora told Riku. But he was wrong. "Moving truck!" Woody shouted. They all ducked. Then when it passed, they saw a small rope dangling off the back, and unanimously realized that that was their only chance. They all climbed on, Woody was last. But right when Woody grabbed onto the rope, he felt his leg being tugged. Sid's dog. Buzz jumped onto the dog's head, and he let go of Woody. Sora and Riku helped Woody open the back of the moving truck, when Woody came up with an idea. He got the RC car out, and threw him onto the pavement. Mr. Potato head screamed, "Murderers!" The RC car came to a stop underneath someone else's car, parked on the street, and Buzz got on. The dog chased the RC car and Buzz, while simultaneously, Sora, Riku, and Woody, were being beaten up by the other toys who blamed them for Buzz's murder. Buzz and the RC car went through an intersection, and the dog followed, causing himself to be trapped in the middle of an accident that he caused. Buzz and the car got away, but Woody, Sora, and Riku were eventually tossed off the truck. At the hands of Mr. Potatohead. 

They sat on the ground and sighed, for having failed after coming so far. Buzz and the car picked them up. Then the other toys saw who was with them. Slink jumped off, having the other toys hold him back, and grabbed Woody's hand. Slink looked tired, he was being stretched way past his ability, but somehow he held on. Slink was stretched again when RC ran out of battery power, but this time, he shot back, unable to hold on. The car slowed, until it was completely stopped. And once again, it seemed like there was no hope. Then Woody remembered being burned at Sid's house. He grabbed Buzz and positioned his helmet to the string attached the rocket, still taped to Buzz. They took off, faster than they had ever been. They flew right into Mr. Potato head, knocking him to pieces. Except Buzz and Woody, they flew upward, into the sky. 

Somehow, they landed safely in a box in the back seat of the car. Andy sat right next to them. He was overjoyed to see his two favorite toys, Woody and Buzz, in the box next to him. When they arrived at the new house, they greeted Roxas, Namine, Donald, and Goofy, and the other toys wanted them to stay. "You're welcome to stay you know," Rex said. Slink added, "Yeah, Andy plays really nicely with all of his toys." Sora hugged Slink. "You're a good dog, even if you're a toy one, but we don't belong here."

"Do you have another owner?" Woody asked them. "The way you got here was a little suspicious, I admit." Sora looked up. Then back to Woody. "No, but there is someone that we need to get back to." The toys smiled. They said their goodbyes and they climbed into the cardboard gummi ship, which spun around and disappeared from inside Andy's new room. 

On the way to their next destination, Sora noticed a new marking on his key blade. It was a rocket. He grazed it with his hand, curious as to how it got there. When he did, the gummi ship sped up to the sound of light. Sora realized what this emblem would do for him in battle, it would increase his speed by at least double. It would no doubt come in very handy. He was thankful that even though that last world was a bit stressful, not once did he have to worry about his girlfriend, and not once did he have to fight a chaser. Everyone was asleep but him and Riku. "So that question," Riku said. Sora looked at him. "I think I'm ready to answer it."


	49. Paradise, and Isolation

**Disclaimer: Is this really still necessary?**

"How do you know what I'm going to ask you?" Sora questioned Riku. "I've been expecting it for awhile now. About Kairi, right?"

"Mmhmm." Sora looked apprehensive as Riku started to answer. "I want to be honest with you, Sora. I used to like her. I think everyone knew that. Then, time went on, and I think I may have even loved her." Sora winced, keeping his eyes shut as Riku hesitated. "So when she was taken from us, we were both forced to do whatever possible to save her. I took the easy way out, joining the dark powers. I knew you liked her too, I just didn't know how much." Riku looked down at the floor of the gummi ship. "And now?" Sora asked him. "I think I still love her, but, not in that way. I think of her, and you, for that matter, more like a brother and sister." Sora seemed to sigh in relief. "You thought I still loved her like that? It kinda sucked to begin with, but I'm totally over it, it's cool. I don't need the drama anyway." Riku smiled and Sora laughed a bit. "You're my best friend, Sora. I see how happy you are. I see how happy she is. I'm glad to be a part of it."

"Where do you think she is?""Safe. I don't know anything else. Come on Sora, it's Mickey. He's got to have a good reason."

"So I won't be distracted."

"Is it not true?" Sora remained quiet.

The gummi ship ran into some turbulence, and everyone was awoken from sleep, as Donald desperately tried to turn the ship, it was no use. It seemed to want to go a certain way. Turns out they were going straight into a black hole. "What's going to happen to us?" Namine shouted. No one answered. The gummi ship was still falling, but it was falling slower, like there was a parachute. It was gentle enough that Goofy was able to climb up and look out the window. "Uh, we're in the middle of a tunnel." Sora pulled himself up to look outside the window as well. "But it's a vertical tunnel, made of dirt… Why does it look familiar?" Donald's light went on in his head. "Wonderland."

The gummi ship stopped at the bottom of the hole, in a small, circular room. There was a table with a bottle that said "Drink Me." A key was on top of the table, and there was a tiny door, with a sleeping doorknob, off to the side. Sora was happy now that he realized where he was at. He liked wonderland. It was only until Donald said something that brought Sora to see that something wasn't right. "Sora?" Donald told him. "Doesn't it look… different?" Sora looked around again, as did the rest of them, and saw a new object on the table. It had the emblem of the disney princesses on it. It was a small, red marshmallow. Underneath the emblem, it said, "Eat Me." Everyone looked at Sora, he was the leader anyway. He smelled the marshmallow first, hesitating. Something didn't feel quite right about it. Then the looks on everyone else's faces reassured him. He took a bite out of the marshmallow and… nothing happened. Everything and everyone looked the same, then, he blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he was alone.

Sora looked around for any sign of life, at all. But it was deserted. Then he started to take in his surroundings. He was in a hedge maze. Large green bushes surrounded him. In the bushes, were scattered black roses. "I knew that was a bad idea. Now, how to get out…" He started walking through the maze, hitting dead end after dead end after dead end. "Maybe I should start over." He tried to go back to where he thought he originally started, but he couldn't find it. He was officially lost in the hedge maze. It was beginning to get dark out in, wherever he was. He wasn't sure. This was not part of Wonderland. He let himself lean into a bush, and then slid down until he was sitting against it. "Maybe this was a trap." Then he saw a cloud of green smoke forming in front of him. He crossed his fingers, hoping to see a floating cat juggling his own head. Yes, he was hoping to see the Cheshire Cat. He wouldn't be much help, since he only spoke in riddles and still kept a critical piece of information missing, but it would be better than nothing. But there was no mysterious cat in front of him when he looked again. And this was certainly not Wonderland.

"Good morning, dearie," a red, plump fairy told Kairi. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She looked around and noticed her surroundings. She was in a small, but charming little cottage. Out the window she could see a forest with animals all over, and a river. The last thing she remembered was walking through a portal in the throne room of King Mickey's Castle. "How long was I out?" She asked the fairy. "A little over two months," Flora replied. Kairi sat straight up. "Where am I? What's going on?" Flora handed her a cup of chamomile tea. "Here dear, drink this, it will help with your stomachache."

"How do you know I have a stomachache? And what's going on here?"

"Sit down and drink your tea, and I'll tell you." Kairi took the tea, she trusted these fairies. It was Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. They would never do anything to harm her. Kairi took a seat and the other two fairies came in. "I'm so sorry, Princess. We had to give you a sleeping potion."

"I don't remember a sleeping potion."

"It had amnesia potion in it too." Flora felt so bad about this, Kairi could tell. "Why didn't you just tell me what was going on?"

"We tried that first," Merryweather said. "After you were in the portal."

"But you wouldn't come with us," Fauna added. "You wanted to go back with Sora and your other friends." Kairi understood that part. "Is Sora okay?""Yes, very well. He's very focused on his mission now." Kairi felt saddened and happy at the same time. "When can I leave?""When the king authorizes it. We'll tell you when. Until then, you're to stay here."

"And you have no idea how long?"

"Well…" Fauna began, looking at Flora for approval. Flora took it from there. "You better take a deep breath for this one, dear." Kairi did as she was told and prepared herself to listen.

"Well," the dark figure began, looking at Sora. "if it isn't the little island brat." Sora got to his feet and called for his key blade. He wasn't going to let her finish, he was just going to take care of her right now. "How many times do I have to kill you Maleficent?" He swung, aggravatedly, at Maleficent, and it went right through her. There was a look of shock on his face. "Wha…"

"Stupid child, I can't be killed. I'm not really here. You're seeing a holograph. For a boy mentored by Merlin, I would at least expect you to know that.""Where am I?"

"You said it yourself, a trap."

"What do you want from me?" She looked to be taken aback. "My, you've grown some. I sensed some pure hatred in your tone. You used to sound almost pathetic. We could really use you in the upcoming war. Too bad. If we can't use you, Mickey's side can't either. You'll never get out of here. You're not smart enough to figure it out. Oh but you won't die either. You'll stay here, forever lost in a maze, fending off heartless and crying for your beloved day after day after day." Sora felt the anger build up inside him. "You have her?"

"No, but we have you. And that's all we need." And with an evil laugh, she disappeared.

Sora fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands. _God, I'd take normal kid, high school drama over this shit anyday. Roxas, can you still hear me? _There was no answer. _I guess we can't communicate with each other when I'm trapped in Maleficent's maze. Now, how to get out…_ He ran through the maze as fast as possible, thinking maybe exits disappeared when he approached. Nope. After navigating the endless maze for several hours, he finally needed to rest. He gave up and layed on the grass, sleep came easily to him.

He woke up when the sun was highest in the sky, telling him that it was about noon. _I must have gone to sleep pretty late._ _Roxas? Namine? _Still no answer. _Ow!_ Sora turned around, to find one single, little heartless biting his leg. He slapped it away with one swing of his key blade. The wound healed quickly, it was just a shadow heartless. Then another popped up, then another. He used his ice magic to freeze them. But he ran out of magic power and he had to kill the oncoming hordes of them by hand. He slashed at them for what seemed like hours, then finally came up with an idea. He decided not to use his magic until it powered up completely. What felt like ten minutes later, he was ready. He used his built up magic power and cast a time spell. The heartless froze in place, and he ran through the maze until he couldn't run any longer. _This should give me a little bit of a breather._ He just laid down to rest, but ended up falling asleep as well.

In his dreams, he saw a familiar face. Not the one he wanted to see, but any familiar face, actually, any face at all, would do. A floating head came towards him. "Cheshire, how are you here? Maleficent basically said it was impossible to get out, and I think it's impossible to communicate with anyone. I tried communicating with Roxas, but it was no use." Cheshire's full body formed, holding his head next to him. "Anything is possible in a dream."

"So I'm dreaming then?"

"Whose to say what a dream is?" _Can't he just at least make sense in my dreams? _"I don't have time for your games. How do I get out of here?"

"The answer is too simple to know."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Do as a child would do. The answer is the most obvious one." Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to ask another question since the all-knowing but no-telling Cheshire cat was in his presence. "Where is Kairi?"

"Kairi is where."

"WHAT?" _Ugh forget what I said earlier, no help would probably have been better._

"You will get the help you need."

"How?"

"Do I know?""You tell me!"

"There is a dark presence here." The cat evaporated, and when Sora blinked, he was awake. The sun's position told him it was now four. He'd wasted practically his whole day. _Great. So that was no help. What would a child do? What's so obvious? Wait a minute, the cat said there was a dark…_ That's when Maleficent showed up again. She was tossing an apple in one hand. She threw it at Sora. He caught it, but let it fall to the ground. "What do you want?"

"Can't I be kind to my prisoner?" She couldn't help but laugh. "I thought you might be hungry after all this time."

"I think I can go a few days without food Maleficent, it's not that hard."

"Oh, I suppose you could. But it's been much longer than a few days." Now Sora looked scared. "How long have I been in here?"

"Three months, give or take.""I've been in here three days, at the most."

"It's amazing how time flies by, when you sleep." She was gone again with the same evil laugh. Sora threw the apple at a hedge. This time, things really did seem hopeless. By now, everyone who knew him would think he was gone, and even if they didn't think he was gone, they would have absolutely no idea of how to find him. Even Merlin's and Yen Sid's sorcery was not enough to find him. What if the battle had started, and they had lost? Or won? What if Kairi was in danger? What if she was back? So much could have changed in three months, he didn't know what to do. He sat down, completely exhausted, but not sleepy. Oh no, he'd decided not to sleep until he got out of the maze. Time was precious.

"Kairi? How are you feeling dear?" Merryweather said as she sat on the edge of the bed Kairi was sleeping on in the cottage. "Much better today, thanks." She took the chamomile tea that was offered to her every morning. "I know you miss him honey," she said while patting Kairi's shoulder. "But you do know it's for the best."

"Yes," Kairi said. "I do."

"You'll see him in a matter of months. By the way, happy birthday." Flora and Fauna came in then with a birthday cake, singing to Kairi. She counted her candles. Her life had just been so stressful that she hadn't kept track of the months or the days. She did the math on her hands and sure enough, it was December 18, her seventeenth birthday.

After a small birthday celebration, Flora's face went pale. "What's wrong, Flora?" Merryweather asked, concerned. Kairi listened. "I'm needed at the King's castle. I'll be back shortly." And with a pinch of magic dust, she was gone. "What could that be about?" Fauna said, curiously. Merryweather shrugged and served herself another piece of cake. Kairi was so used to this living situation that she totally forgot about the chaos going on in the outside world. Light and dark were on the brink of a humongous war, and her boyfriend was one of the leaders on the light side. Her friends were too. Sora was in constant danger, and it made her sick to think of what he could possibly being going through at that very moment.

_I'm so tired…_ Sora hadn't slept in two days._ It hasn't even been that long. This constant, endless, useless fighting is just exhausting._ _What's the point anymore? _Sora had been battling off heartless for two days, with no sleep, no food and no water, but since he was in another reality, he couldn't die, only suffer. Even if he had lost the will to live, he couldn't die, unless he did it himself, with his key blade,_ which is kind of looking like an okay option right now. _He shook the thought from his head. _No need to over exaggerate. I'm no drama queen. _He ran some more, trying to get to the end of the maze. He knew it wouldn't work. But he would go crazy just doing nothing. And doing nothing would probably cause him to fall asleep. He couldn't let that happen. He was starving. He remembered something his mom told him when he was a kid. "If you're ever without food, Sora, there is a way to test whether something can be eaten or not." Sora started to remember. "Put the object on your chin, and hold it there for a minute, if there is no irritation, put it under your tongue for a minute, if there is no irritation then, it's safe." _Thank God for paranoid overprotective mothers. _He grabbed a bunch of leaves off of one of the hedges. Thankfully, the leaves passed the test. He ate a handful then another one, and he did this for a long time. But the knawing pain was still there. _These probably aren't working because I'm in a fake reality. _He let the leaves fall out of his hand onto the ground, and once again buried his face in his hands. He felt himself start to cry. He blinked back the tears and instead, started slicing and dicing with his key blade at the hedges in anger.


	50. The Things a Potion Can Do

Kairi was supposed to be sleeping, but she was too worried about the coming war, and about Sora. So when Flora came back from Disney Castle, she heard her call Fauna and Merryweather into another room. Kairi, being, Kairi, of course went to go see what they were talking about. She hid behind the curving staircase and listened intently. The look on Flora's face made Kairi a bit apprehensive, and it looked like it was having the same affect on the other fairies. "Well, what happened?"

"Oh dear," she began. "Nobody knows. Mickey, Merlin, no one. Sora has been missing for three months. Based on what the other warriors have told Mickey, it seems he's been trapped. But no one knows a way in, so they can't get to him, or even know if he is still alive." Kairi gasped in horror and let out a small shriek, covering her mouth when she realized she just gave out her hiding place.

Then again, knowing what she just found out, she really didn't even care anymore. About anything. Well, she thought, looking towards the floor. _Almost _anything. She stepped out of hiding. Flora had a stern look on her face. "You're supposed to be sleeping. You aren't in the position to handle something like this." Kairi was thankful to the fairies for how good they'd been to her, but this was soooo her business. "Ask me if I care? I LOVE Sora, and I'm not going to pretend everything is okay, when it's not. Do you know anything else?" Flora looked shocked at Kairi's reaction. "I'm sorry, I know it hurts. I don't have any more information. The King said he'd call me back with any news. You were not supposed to know."

"Well I would have found out eventually better now than later right?" She stormed outside. _I need to go for a walk. _Kairi stopped by the river. She sat down and threw rocks at the same spot, over and over. She _hated _this. She didn't want to be apart from him any longer. Though she did know, there wasn't really an option. She was forbidden to see him for awhile longer. She counted down the days. She found herself drifting off, and she let herself fall asleep. Like it matters anyway. Anything is better than sitting there useless.

In her dreams, Kairi saw Sora running, frantically. She couldn't see where he was, where he was running to, or what he was running from, she just saw him running. The look on his face was not terror, or worry, or anything of the sort. Just, exhaustion. Like he'd been running for the entire three months that he'd been gone. He looked so tired, like he hadn't slept in days. She called out to him, and he looked back, confused, but kept running. _Okay, he didn't hear me, but he heard something. Maybe this can work. SORA! GO TO SLEEP!_ He turned again, confused. He sat down, resting his back against something. She awoke with an idea.

She started back towards the house, as fast as she could. She opened the pantry and grabbed the sleeping dust. "Kairi? What are you doing?" Fauna asked her. "I'm sorry Fauna, but I have to do this." Kairi closed her eyes and threw sleeping dust at Fauna. Fauna fell fast asleep. Then Merryweather came in and she did the same to her. Flora was already sleeping on the small sofa in the cottage, but she sprinkled some on her, just in case. She put the sleeping dust back and looked for the teleporting potion.

Sora had been on the run for three days now, without sleep. He was famished, and very thirsty, but if he stopped running or walking, he'd fall asleep. The last little bit of hope was diminishing with every step he took. He was finding it harder and harder to even care about what was going on. Whenever he thought about just giving up and going to sleep, he thought about Kairi, and the thought of her kept him going. He kept on running. _I need help. I can't do this anymore._ He turned around quickly, but no one was there. _Hmm, thought I heard something. _He turned back around, but he hadn't gone more than a few yards when he heard that sound again. He couldn't make out who was saying it, and he couldn't make out any words, but his heart told him that he was supposed to stop. So he did. He listened to his heart, and he sat down, resting his back against a hedge. He felt himself drift off to sleep, and it was peaceful.

The instructions on the bottle said it would take you where you wanted to be, but not your body, only your spirit. She focused on Sora's dreams. She just had to get to him in his dreams. She could help him, somehow. She drank the entirety of the potion. She awoke in a hedge maze, and found a sleeping Sora. "Wake up, sleepyhead." He woke to the sound of her voice. "Am I dreaming?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But I'm really here, in your dreams."

"Kairi?" There was a tear in his eye as he attempted to hug her. His arms went right through her. "I'm sorry, Sora. I wish there was a way for me to be here completely, but I'm only in your dreams for now." He stood back, taking in the sight of his girlfriend whom he hadn't seen in five months. "Happy birthday." _Unbelievable, after all he's been through, he still remembers._ She wanted to kiss him but then remembered, she couldn't. It was all a dream. She was lucky to even be here. She also didn't take into account how long the potion would last. "You look different." He told her. "My uh… hair is longer." She told him hesitantly. "Oh, that must be it." But he still didn't look too sure. "Kairi, I'm trapped. I don't know what to do. The cat said the answer to the maze was obvious. But I don't see it. I'm so tired, so hungry, so thirsty." She felt so bad for him. She wanted to fix it, but she couldn't. She tried to think of a way out of the maze when it just came to her. She got a vision of the tunnel she and Sora played in as children. The "secret place". She saw them walk out of the tunnel. Then she looked back at Sora. "Sora, just walk out."

"Huh?"

"The maze, Sora. Just walk out. It's the first thing a child would do. It's so obvious you wouldn't think that would possibly be the answer. But it is. I'm sure of it." Sora's face lit up. "You're so smart, Kairi. Did they let you do this?"

"No. I did it anyway."

"Why?""Because I love you. And because, it's my turn to save _you._" She held out her hand, and he grazed over it with his, even though neither of them could feel it. "Why can't you come back? Why do they have you someplace safe?"

"You'll see, Sora. But as much as I hate it, it's the best thing to do right now." Sora looked down. "It's so hard without you." She put her hand over her heart. "It pains me too, Sora. But if you ever trust me on anything, trust me on this. The King is doing a good thing here." She looked into his eyes. "Okay." She felt herself fade out. And she came back into consciousness in her own body, in the cottage. The fairies were awake, stomping their feet, crossing their arms. "Hey, I saved the keybearer." She said with a sly smile on her face. And even though she didn't see him escape the maze, she was sure she'd hear about it from the fairies the next time Flora came back from Disney Castle.


	51. Sora Reads the Prophecy

Sora got up and brushed himself off. He took a deep breath and headed towards a bush. He willed his key blade into his hand, and separated the branches, creating an arch for him to walk through. He felt himself trip, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor of Disney Castle.

The King and the others were too shocked to say anything at first until Sora managed to mumble, "Hi", before passing out. He was tired, looked weak, and his hair and clothes were filthy. Mickey stood. "Riku, Roxas, take him to Merlin's house right away!" They both shook their heads in disbelief before standing and shouting "Yes,Sir!"

Sora woke up and saw Goofy sitting next to his cot in Merlin's house. "Hiya, Sora!" He said before hugging Sora so tight he thought his lungs might collapse. Donald knocked Goofy on the head with his shield. "Gentle, you big palooka!" Goofy rubbed his head. "Oh sorry." Sora sat up with a smile on his face. He looked around the room and saw Namine, Goofy and Donald. "I missed you guys." Namine smiled and brought him some soup. "Thanks. Where's Roxas and Riku?" Namine replied, "They're checking up on things, to be sure we still have the firepower and soldiers we need for the war."

Sora looked at the calendar. "Oh no! Is that correct?" Namine looked down. "Yes. You've been asleep for two months. It's February." Sora shook his head. "It's been seven months since I've seen Kairi, in the flesh, at least, I saw her in a dream."

"Oh?""Yeah, she saved me." Namine looked confused. "Well, go on." Sora took another sip of his soup before continuing. "Maybe you should call everyone in to hear this."

An hour or so later, Sora met everyone in the King's Library. King Mickey asked him to tell them what happened. "Maleficent trapped me in an endless hedge maze, with no food, water, and constant heartless. I was feeling exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and I ran through that maze for three months, desperate to find a way out. When I was almost ready to give up, something in my heart told me to sleep. Then Kairi appeared in my dreams." Everyone was listening intently. Merlin asked, "Did you see her in your dreams, or did she visit you?"

"She came to me, to save me." King Mickey was stern. "I specifically forbade you two from having any contact with each other until after the battle."

"I'm sorry, King Mickey, but, I was losing it in there, I was almost ready to surrender, or just give up on living. If she hadn't done it, you may have had one less soldier in battle." Merlin said, "The boy has a point." Mickey looked back at Merlin. "That's just it. Sora is no longer allowed to be a boy. He can't think the way he used to. He needs to be stern, focused, and strong. Tell me Sora," he said as he looked at Sora. "Did she look different?" Sora was shocked that he knew. "Well, yeah, I think her hair was longer, or, something. How did you know?" Mickey and Merlin looked at each other. "Never mind. What happened then?"

"She told me to think as a child would, to do the most obvious thing. She told me to just walk out. When I listened, I walked out, tripped, and woke up on the floor of the throne room. You know the rest." Mickey stood. "Riku, Roxas, you know your duties. Go stock up on potions and meet us back here tomorrow afternoon for your final mission before the battle. Namine, go with Donald and Goofy to Yen Sid's tower to work on your magic. Sora, come with me." Everyone did as they were told.

Sora walked with Mickey down what was called the Hall of Arms. There were weapons on the walls featured in every battle, such as Hercules sword and shield, Achilles sword and shield, and others such as that. When they got to the end of the hall, Mickey willed his key blade, and unlocked a single door. It opened to the size of Mickey's throne room, which was pretty big.

As they walked inside, Sora saw what were rows and rows of key blades. "Whoa." He gasped. Mickey stopped and Sora followed suit. "These, soldier, are not only the key blades you and your friends have acquired and recovered, but also the ones used by many heroes before your time. They continued to walk up and down the rows. Sora saw some familiar key blades, but most of them were completely foreign to him. "These are the weapons of light, for they represent the light inside everyone's heart. These are the weapons our warriors will be using, with you as the leader. I'll leave you now. Below each blade is a list of which battle it was used in, its weilder, and it's stats. I want you to choose one to carry into battle that will be yours and yours alone. Study and choose wisely. Then rest up, you've got a long day tomorrow." Sora watched Mickey walk out of the room.

Sora must've spent hours reading every single spec on every single key blade. He liked many but hadn't come to any conclusion. Then one caught his gaze. It was solid gold, it glimmered in the dim light of the room, but the reason he chose it was because of one strange feature: There was one, single Ruby in the handle of the blade. He looked into it and suddenly was overwhelmed with his deepest thoughts and desires. He read the plaque below its pedestal that read. "Fatal Flaw" _Why is it called that?_ He read further.

_The bearer of this key blade shall gain insight into the opponents mind_

_While looking into the ruby._

_But while it can be the greatest help in time of battle,_

_It can also destroy the bearer. _

_One glance into the ruby for a personal matter may_

_Or may not cause it to backfire._

_This key blade is the most helpful and most dangerous _

_In the world, therefore, it must be handled_

_With wisdom._

Sora closed his eyes and willed the key blade into his hand. It appeared and he knew it was official. He dismissed it and noticed one other thing in the room before turning to leave. A book. He went over to the pedestal in the dark in the corner of the room and picked up the book. It was the book they'd found many months ago in a crevace in radiant garden. The one about the prophecy. He flipped to the back. The last page was in there. "I wonder why Kairi was worried that we'd lose the battle when she read this." So he began to read it.

And so it begins again. The great battle

That will be waged in the time of the

Third trial will not be the end of the war.

He paused. "Oh, that's why she said we might not win. It says this battle won't be the end of the war." He began to read again.

But fear not, for in the end, the light

Will always win. Chosen ones whom lay

Their eyes on this book, there will come a day

When there will be a war to end all wars.

This day will come at the time….

Sora flipped to the next page, also the last page that had been recovered, and finished the book.

Of the reaching of adolescence of a new hero,

Born from the purest of hearts,

One warrior tried and true,

And one of the seven truest of hearts.

For when this bond becomes solid, the

Light will have its Savior.


	52. Where Dreams Coincide With Reality

Sora read the page over and over. He knew what it said, he just wished more information would magically appear. He heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned quickly. "Sora, I don't believe Mickey's purpose for bringing you in here was for you to read that book."

"Sorry, Merlin. I picked the key blade, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I didn't think it would hurt to read the last page."

"Well, what's done is done. Do you know what it means?""I think so."

"Care to elaborate?"

"A hero will be born from a warrior, tried and true, and one of the seven purest of hearts, so one of the seven princesses. And when the kid turns 13, he'll inherit the will and responsibility to fight."

"Do you know who the warrior, tried and true is?"

"I'm guessing, either me or Riku."

"You."

"So one day I'll have a son and he'll be the hero?"

"You're seeing the big picture yes, but 'one day' will be here sooner than you think. When the book says one of the seven purest of heart, it's talking about Kairi." Sora felt his eyes water with joy but blinked them back since Merlin was watching him. "So, me and Kairi?"

"Son, how many months has it been since you've seen Kairi?"

"Seven. Why?"

"Why do you think Mickey is trying to keep Kairi safe right now, when she could handle it before?"

Sora felt so drained still, he wasn't catching up as quickly as Merlin hoped. Merlin wasn't allowed to tell Sora, so he had to guess. Sora wasn't really seeing where Merlin was going with this whole thing, but then he remembered what he and Kairi had done in Ansem's study on June 1, seven and a half months back. "Because she has two lives to care for now." Merlin clapped once when Sora came to the realization that he and Kairi were to have a child in a little over a month, who would be the next warrior of the light. Sora couldn't hold back his tears this time. While scared to death for not only the child, but also Kairi and himself, it was also the happiest moment of his life. He shook his head.

"That's why when you saw us, you said, 'so that's what it meant'."

"Yes.""But we were together only once. How is it possible?"

"Though rare, it is very possible. While you are both so young, this child was destined to come. Sora, you were not supposed to know. Promise me that you won't let this distract you. You need to be as focused as possible to ensure the safety of Kairi and your child."

"Okay." He said it with utmost certainty. There was nothing that would get in his way now. "You thought it would weaken me, but the news of this has done the opposite Merlin. What should I say to Mickey?"

"You need to rest for tomorrow. Your last mission before the battle. I'll talk to Mickey." Sora smiled, tears in his eyes still, but the biggest smile on his face. Merlin turned to walk out the door, but then turned back to Sora.

"Oh, and there is one more thing you were wrong about."

"What's that?"

"When you said, And when the kid turns 13, he'll inherit the will and responsibility to fight."

"What about it?"

"Well, not he'll. _She'll_"

"Our child is a girl?"

"Yes. My magic is for many more purposes than just battle." He winked at Sora and walked out.

Sora took a walk into the beautiful garden at Disney Castle. He said on the ledge of the bush that he and Kairi had sat on a year-and-a-half before. He remembered every detail about that moment. He remembered the sun as it was setting on them, he remembered every detail of her face, lit up and glowing by the light of the sun. He remembered the red and white roses surrounding them, he even remembered Donald and Goofy spying on them from a few ledges back. This is the very spot where he told her that he loved her. He leaned back and took in the warm sunlight on his skin, remembering Aurora's castle, their first kiss happened in the tower, where Maleficent had Kairi. Once he saved her, she kissed him, not the other way around. He laughed to himself. _I never did get over that._

He remembered the sixteenth birthday party he threw for her, with the help of Belle and Beast. How beautiful she looked as she came down those stairs, and how the next morning they played a joke on Roxas.

Then he remembered some not-so-good memories. Not-so-good memories, that in the end, he was thankful for, because they made them both stronger as a couple and as individuals. It was when Kairi grew up. She put his safety ahead of her own desires, when she told him that they couldn't be together because of the danger it put Sora in. All his enemies knew his weakness was her. He remembered the pain he felt in his heart. But even though it was painful, it made him grow up, too. He focused only on his work, and used the pain he felt to make him stronger, to fuel him. And when they finally couldn't take it anymore, they got back together. But by then, they'd matured enough to know how to juggle their responsibilites, their friends, their King, and each other.

After that, he thought of the day where he felt closer to her than ever. When they went swimming together in Atlantica, or the ground above it, at midnight. It was freezing, but they went anyway, in order to be together, without anyone else near them. It was when he began to see her even differently, and their young, juvenile love for each other grew into more mature love for each other. They'd both grown up a lot, in just a few short months. He remembered holding her close on the rock looking up at the stars. And he remembered carrying her back to shore so carefully, delicately, and putting her to bed in her room. She woke then, and told him to stay with her. They didn't do anything that night, they just held each other close while they slept, but the sensation of warmth they both got while they slept together made Sora feel like their souls were one. He's sure she felt the same, based on the way she looked at him the next day.

Fast forward to nearly a year ago. Seven-and-a-half months ago. They had the afternoon off. They were free to do whatever they wanted for an entire afternoon. Sora knew what he had in mind. They held hands while walking through the market in Twilight Town. They rode the train all by themselves, in a seat in the way back, and when they got to the station of Sunset Hill they went to the tower above it. They ate sea salt ice cream up there while the clock was ticking behind them, watching the sunset. Then they climbed down and headed to Sunset Hill at Twilight: The time of day when all the lights and nature in Twilight Town is the most beautiful. After looking down from the hill at the lights illuminating from the city, a seemingly innocent child's bet turned into the rest of their lives. Sora bet Kairi he could kill more heartless than she could, and both of them sprinted towards the tunnels, towards Ansem's study, towards their future.

They sat on the red sofa, and the conversation went from innocent heartless-killing strategies, to how nice it was to be rid of Roxas and Namine for a day. Then Kairi looked sad. Sora asked her what was wrong and she expressed how worried she was that they would lose the battle. Sora read the last page and didn't figure it out. Kairi was smarter than he was, at least he thought so, so when she read the last page, why hadn't she figured out what it truly meant? That they would bear the new warrior of light? Maybe it was destiny; maybe if she'd known, she would have made sure nothing happened, them being so young and all. That was the moment that she really let her guard down in front of him. That was the time that he felt most responsible for her, and the time where it seemed like she felt completely, 100% safe in his arms. He wanted to prove that to her. And that was when he knew that no matter what happened or where they were, as long as she was by his side, they'd be okay. They'd be happy. That's when everything happened. Slow kissing at first, escalating to the point of no turning back.

Sora opened his eyes and realized that he wasn't just remembering those things, he'd fallen asleep and they replayed in his dreams. Then he felt a presence. He looked to his right, and she was there, sleeping. Her head rested on his right shoulder and her right arm across his chest. He put his right arm around her and closed his eyes again, wanting to continue the dream; He knew she wasn't actually here with him, she was in Aurora's world with the fairies. But before allowing himself to continue his dream, he opened his eyes once more, and looked down, her belly was slightly firm and slightly raised, noticeable, but not obvious. He put his left hand on it, and closed his eyes again.


	53. The Final Mission

Roxas held Namine next to him as they stood on the porch above the garden. "I can't believe it." Namine told him. "I know. But it's incredible, you know? How things that are meant to be will always happen." She looked at him with glossy eyes. "You're not usually one to say things like that." He looked at her again, and kissed her forehead before kissing her lips. "I'm not one to feel things like this, either." He said while running his fingers through her hair. They were looking down at Sora and Kairi, both asleep in the garden, holding each other and their unborn daughter close.

Two hours after he and Riku had gone out for potions, they came back and Merlin said they had an important meeting in the library. They followed Merlin in where they saw Kairi standing next to Mickey, with a little bit of a pudge, Donald and Goofy, Namine, and the Fairies. "Sit." Mickey told them and they did what they were told. "As you all can see, Kairi is back, and I believe you all notice what is different about her." Donald was the first to answer. "She needs to lay off the donuts." Namine smacked him in the back of the head for being offensive, but Kairi knew Donald's sense of humor, and she just laughed. Namine asked her next. "This may seem like a stupid question, but are you.."

"Yes."

"Was it when.."

"Yes."

"So it's.." Kairi smiled. "Yes." Namine jumped up and gave her a hug. "That's all the questions I have." Namine sat back down and Riku asked. "Does Sora know?" Merlin answered his question. "Yes, Sora figured it out when he saw the last page of the prophecy about two hours ago. That's why Kairi was permitted to come back. If he already knows, having them apart won't do any good. But we all need to make sure we do everything possible to keep this hidden from the dark side." Everyone nodded their heads. Then, through the window, Kairi saw Sora, dazed, walking towards the garden. She turned towards Merlin. "Did you see him? He looks confused, is he upset?"

"Not at all, dear. He loves you, and he already loves her," he said, motioning towards her stomach. "Then why does he look like that?"

"He's scared mostly, but I'm a wizard my dear, I could also tell how happy he was when he figured it out." Mickey looked at her. "You can go to him." She smiled and hugged Mickey before walking towards the door. She turned around once more, to thank the fairies for their kindness. Then walked out, towards the guy she hadn't seen in almost eight months.

She found Sora asleep on the grass in the garden, he looked so peaceful. She laid down next to his right side, and rested her head on his right shoulder. About five minutes later he must've woken up, because she felt him put his arm around her and his other arm on their child. He closed his eyes again so he must have thought it was a dream, seeing her next to him. So she pretended to be asleep. They needed the togetherness right now. They could catch up when they woke.

Sora opened his eyes to see Kairi leaning over him. "Hey, baby." She said before kissing him. "I must be really tired." He closed his eyes again. She pinched him. Hard. "OW!" He bolted upright, he looked at her as if to say "What the hell was that for?" But then he realized that she was here. She was here, not in a dream, but for real. He quickly hugged her and kissed her over and over until she told him that he has to be careful now when he is that close to her. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry." He looked at her stomach. "I'm sorry baby." He looked up at Kairi again. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything? Are you craving anything? Are you sick?" She kissed him to interrupt him. "All those questions Sora, though appreciated, aren't necessary. The sickness passed already, as well as the cravings, I'm feeling great. The fairies took great care of me."

Then he put his head down. "I missed like, this entire thing." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know. And it sucks. You have no idea how much I wished you were there with me."

"I could have gone to the market at one in the morning to buy pickles, or I could have gotten up ten times during the course of the night to get you water. Or…" She interrupted him again. "I know you would have. And I love you so much for that. But hey, since you figured out the prophecy, you will be here for the rest of it." He looked at her belly again. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Of course not, I want your say in that." He hugged her again, gently this time. I can't believe you're here." He brushed her hair behind her ears.

"Hey," Riku interrupted. "Sorry, but Mickey told me to make sure you don't forget about our trip tomorrow, Sora. I don't know where it's to, but he said to make sure you get enough sleep."

"Okay, thanks Riku." Riku turned around and Sora hopped to his feet, then he helped Kairi up and she linked her arm with his. They strolled slowly, to her room. She kissed him goodnight. Then closed the door. He went down the hall to his room, out the window, and over to her window. Meanwhile, she got dressed for bed then walked over to her window, expecting him. They'd arranged this because Mickey told them to sleep separately. After being separated for nearly eight months, they weren't about to listen. They climbed into bed and fell asleep in each other's arms.

Sora woke up at six-thirty the next day, Kairi was still sleeping, so he kissed her forehead and began to open the window. Then he heard her say "Wait". He walked over to her. "Yes?"

"I can't go with you today. I don't know where you're going, but be careful, and enjoy yourself? Okay?" He kissed her lips softly, nodded his head. She went back to sleep and he went into his room and got dressed just before seven, when he was due with the others in the gummi ship launch area.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Riku asked. Roxas came running down the stairs, putting on his jacket and shoes as he ran. "Whoa Roxas! You need to be careful!" Goofy told him. He looked at Namine. "Sorry I'm late, I had a long night." He looked at Sora then, and Sora knew exactly what he meant. Sora gave Namine a friendly hug and got into the gummi ship. "Where to?" Sora asked the King through the speaker when they got in. "Long Island, New York." The gummi ship dropped and launched off to their final mission.


	54. Battle Camp

**I'll be doing a crossover with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but just for this chapter and possibly the next one. All background information will be re-introduced so if you haven't read the book you're still good. **

"What's in Long Island?" Roxas asked Riku. "I don't know all Merlin said was that it was some type of training camp." The gummi ship came to an abrupt halt. "Camp Half-Blood" Sora announced. The boys stepped out of the gummi ship, then Namine. There was a golden arch, next to a single tree on a hill, with that title on it. "So, I guess we go through here." Sora mentioned. They tried to walk through the gate, but were blocked by an invisible barrier. "Oh no!" he shouted, "This means a chaser!" Roxas drew his keyblade as did the others, but then a blond girl who looked to be about seventeen walked through from the other side. "No chaser here. My name is Annabeth." She stood about five-foot-seven, wasn't skinny but wasn't overweight, with bright blue eyes and long flowing blonde hair.

"You guys are from Disney Castle, right? We've been expecting you." Roxas smiled, sarcastically. "Well then how come we can't get in?" She looked slightly annoyed at his impatience. "Here, take these. As long as you wear these pendulums, you'll be able to get into the camp." They followed Annabeth through the gate. "So basically, this camp is for half-bloods. Children born half-human, half-god. Evil monsters try to attack the demigods, another nickname for us, but this camp is protected magically by the tree you guys saw by the entrance. It's known as Thalia's tree."

Riku asked her, "So, whose your parent?"

"Well, my dad, is a businessman living in San Francisco. My mom, however, is Athena. Goddess of wisdom and strategy."

"So, you're like, really smart." Roxas said as Namine glared at him. Annabeth laughed. "Anyway, the training you'll get here is the best you'll find anywhere. I'm taking you to the big house now to meet the camp director, Chiron."

They walked a little further and explained to them what they would be doing in training for the next week. As they got closer to the big house, a guy who stood about 5'9 with windblown black hair and olive skin hopped off of a horse to greet them. But first, he grabbed Annabeth and kissed her. "Hey guys, I'm Percy. One of Poseidon's sons."

"And my boyfriend." Annabeth said proudly. Sora noticed that Namine seemed to relax a little bit with the news of that, and he laughed. "What's so funny, Sora?"  
"Oh, nothing. Haha". Percy kissed Annabeth goodbye and turned around on horseback to Sora, "Hope to see you in the ring!" Sora breathed heavily. "What ring?" Annabeth laughed. "Oh not a boxing ring or anything. Though I'm sure it would be an even match. A swordfighting ring. Except in your case, you would be using your keyblade."

They made their way towards the big house, but they had to pass by a U-shaped section of cabins first. "The two at the end are cabins for Hera and Zues' kids. But Hera doesn't have any kids because she is the goddess of marriage and fidelity and what-not. They have her cabin here more out of respect. The two at the sides are cabins for Hades and Poseidon's kids. Sora, you'll be staying in the Poseidon cabin with Percy. He'll be your mentor this week." She pointed out the rest of the cabins to the group. "This one is Athena's cabin. Namine, you'll be staying here with me, I'll teach you some good battle strategies. Riku, you and Roxas will be staying in this cabin, belonging to the children of Ares, god of war." When she finished showing them the campground, they finally reached the big house.

"Well, well," A very tall half-horse, half-man told them. He bowed towards them since he couldn't shake their hand. "This is the first time we've ever had any outsiders come train with us. I'm the camp director, and I'll be overseeing your training. Especially for you," He nodded towards Sora. "I trust that Annabeth explained everything to you?" "Yes sir," Roxas told him. "Good. Well then. The first thing you'll be doing is aqua training. Percy will show be your teacher for it. So go to your cabins and get situated. Meet us at the river at three o clock. Here are your maps" He waved his hand over the maps lying on his desk. They all picked one up and walked out, towards the cabins.

As Sora approached the Poseidon cabin, he noticed that it was built to actually look like the sea. The wall around it literally looked like it had been built with sand from the ocean floor, the roof was of the same material but covered in moss and seaweed, there were windows and doors, but mollusks and barnacles covered most of the surrounding wall. He knocked first, knowing that only Percy would be in there but not wanting to be rude. Percy opened the door. "Hey, Sora, right? Come in." Sora walked in and looked around, There were six bunk beds, a bathroom, a desk, bookcase, and a waterfall in the corner of the room.

"Cool waterfall." Percy had a confused look on his face but then turned his attention to the waterfall and said, "Oh, dude that's my phone." Sora shook his head. "Uh, what?" Percy laughed. "See," he pulled golden coins out of his pocket. "These are known as drachmas, they are the currency of the gods. The goddess Iris is the goddess of communication." Sora still looked confused. Percy grinned again. "Look," He said as he and Sora walked over to it. He waved his hand into the waterfall, until a rainbow appeared, then he tossed in one coin, "now, at this point you're supposed to chant this really lame, but totally unnecessary speech to Iris. I just say, Iris, accept this drachma and show me Annabeth, or whoever I want to talk to." Annabeth appeared in the waterfall. "WHOA!" Sora's chin dropped. "See babe, that's why I like cell phones, you can ignore the call, your face could pop up out of nowhere with the Iris message." Percy laughed. "Whatever, wise girl, I'm showing Sora how it works."

"It's cool, I was going to show Namine in a little while anyway. I'll see you at the river, okay?" Percy nodded and waved his hand through the mist, and Annabeth was gone. "And that, is how gods make a phone call." Sora was still somewhat in shock. Percy fished a drachma out of his pocket, and tossed it up to Sora. "Here," he said as Sora caught it, "Call your girl. I'll meet you at the river in an hour or so.

Percy left after that. Sora tossed the coin in after making the rainbow, and asked to speak to Kairi. At first she kinda freaked because she wasn't sure how the whole thing worked, she thought it might be evil magic trying to spy on her or trick her. But after Sora explained it, she seemed calm for the most part, though still cautious. He didn't blame her, she was really vulnerable right now. "Kairi, it's me, I swear. Ask me something only I would know." She looked at him suspiciously. "What's your mother's middle name?"

"Luxe." She laughed. "Yup. Wow, that thing is cool! Wait a minute," she seemed to be thinking about something, along with Sora, and then at the same time they both shouted "LUXE!" They looked at each other. "That's her name!" Kairi and Sora both thought it seemed like the perfect name for their daughter. It was short yet strong, and named after Sora's mother. "Hey, I'm glad we came to a mutual agreement about this, but I've got to go to training now."

"Okay. Please, please be careful."

"You too." He waved his hand through the mist, and brought out his ruby keyblade. He took a deep breath, then walked out the door, headed towards the river. 

Along the way he met up with Namine, Roxas, and Riku. Annabeth had already gone ahead with Percy. They saw them at the river. There was Chiron there along with Percy and Annabeth. "Welcome, guests. To show you how things are done here, Annabeth and Percy will fight first." Chiron gave Annabeth the nod. "Okay," Annabeth said as she drew her sword, as Percy drew his. Then with their free hands, they walked hand-in-hand into the water. They put their swords in the air, touching, and with his free hand, Percy kissed Annabeth's other hand. "Ready, wise girl?" She had a sneaky look on her face. "Whenever you are, Kelp boy." Roxas couldn't help but laugh at their nicknames. "DUEL!" Chiron yelled.

Percy made the first move, he slashed his sword down towards Annabeth as hard as he could. Namine let out a small shriek, thinking he would have killed her if he'd done that a second earlier. But Annabeth moved quickly, despite being in water, which is resisting. She dove between his legs and lashed her sword towards him, getting very close to injuring him as well. He seemed to sense it, and turned quickly, ducking. Then their swords met again, and from then on it was back-and-forth for awhile. Chiron walked over to Namine and sat down, though he was still taller than she was. "Don't worry, Annabeth is intelligent, so she is always one-step ahead, and Percy is quick, especially in water. They know each other well, and neither of them would make any move on the other one that they even suspect would hurt them. Annabeth knows what Percy can catch, and what he can't, and he knows the same for her. It's incredibly important to learn that, which is why I began your week with this lesson." He looked at every one of them before going on. "You'll learn so much this week, but perhaps the most important thing is learning how to read your opponent. We'll be working on that skill all week."

Percy and Annabeth dueled for awhile when Annabeth whispered something into Percy's ear, which distracted him and made him lose focus, just for a second, but enough to throw him off his game. Annabeth drew her sword up and held it to his neck. "Checkmate" She told him. He looked at Chiron pathetically. "That's not fair. You should have heard what she said in my ear. That would distract anybody." He smiled at her. Chiron cleared his throat. "Oh, I have a pretty good idea what she whispered to you." Then he looked at Sora and the rest of the group. "Which is precisely why we have separate cabins for them."

"So Sora, Riku, would you like to go first?" They nodded. "Head on into the water." They did as they were asked, when they got into the water, they shook hands, and both wielded their keyblades. "DUEL!" Sora made the first attempt, and lunged his keyblade toward Riku, who jumped back and fell into the water. Sora helped him up, they shook hands, and started the second round, as Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron looked on. This time, Riku stepped back before Sora even moved, causing Sora to lunge too far forward, and then he too, fell into the water. Round three began, this time, Riku and Sora lunged at the same time, causing them to crash into each other and again, fall into the water. Annabeth and Percy were laughing before Chiron glared at them. "Okay boys, come out of the water." They did as they were told. When they reached Chiron, he told them, "Lesson one as I mentioned, was learning to read your opponent. Lesson two: Learning to use your environmental conditions to your advantage." They looked encouraged, like the camp would have a big impact on their battle skills. "Roxas, battle Percy."

"Are you insane?" Roxas demanded. "No."

Roxas entered the water with Percy. They shook hands and Chiron called duel. Roxas made the first attempt, swinging his blade at Percy before he had a chance to move. He read it wrong, Percy had plenty of time to move out of the way, when he did, Roxas stumbled, and Percy pulled his sword up to Roxas' neck. That's when Chiron chimed in with "Lesson three: Know when to attack." Roxas and Percy came out of the water. "You're all to rest up for tomorrow. At twelve, Sora will be working with Percy in the woods. Roxas will work with Annabeth in the water, and Riku will work with me at the track." They were all dismissed. Percy and Annabeth walked hand in hand into the water. Sora thought they were going to duel again, but when they descended underneath, he asked Chiron how. "Percy is the son of the god of the seas. He can breathe underwater, he can also create a bubble underwater for her to breathe."

"Oh. Wow. I wish I could do something like that."

"You may not be able to do that, but you are much more powerful than they are, simply because of your heart."

"How so?"  
"Well, Sora, why else do you think it's you that is the captain of the soldiers of light?"

"I don't know."

"Besides the seven princesses, your heart is the purest. That doesn't mean temptation is easy to resist, but it's easier for you than most."

"Oh." Chiron nodded at him and headed back. The sun began to go down. Riku, Roxas, and Namine went to go explore but Sora went back to the cabin. He was very tired.


	55. New Strategies

Sora woke up the next morning at eleven. "Wow, I must've been tired."

"You talk in your sleep." Sora turned and saw Percy drying his hair with a towel. "Did you just get back?"

"No, I won't stay underwater for _that _long."

"It's amazing that you can do that."

"Yeah, it comes in handy. Is there anything you can do?"

"I can fly."

"No shit," he asked, not sarcastically, curiously. "Yeah. I'll show you in the woods."

Sora and Percy arrived in the woods a little before twelve. "So, show me this flying thing Sora."

"Well, it's more like a glide. Or float. In other words, I can't stay up as long as I want. I can ascend and descend but not for more than a minute. It's convenient, but I wish I could do it longer." Percy encouraged him to show it. Sora looked up and closed his eyes, he ascended to two stories above them. A minute later, he glided in circles down to the ground. "That's pretty badass Sora."

"Thanks. Doesn't beat your underwater thing, though."

"Maybe someday it will."

"Okay Sora. I'm the one Chiron appointed to teach lesson one. I'm going to do my best to make sure you guys know how to read your opponent. I want you to put this on." He handed Sora a small black cloth. "A blindfold?"

"Yeah. When sight is disabled, your other senses work together to make up for it. This, will help even more." He said as he handed Sora headphones. "When you are blind and deaf in a crisis situation, your subconscious will come into play. They say that only 10% or so of your conscious mind is being used. Your subconscious is much more powerful." Sora put the headphones and blindfold on. Percy spun him around three times, then drew his sword.

Sora was frightened at first and that caused panic. He didn't hear anything or see anything, and he sure as hell couldn't "sense" anything. He didn't even think this would work. But then something weird happened. He felt his arm go up, keyblade in hand, and block something. _Percy must have swung at me. _He wasn't aware of anything, but then he thought maybe Percy was right, and his subconscious was in control. He felt himself duck, then jump, spin, flip, and swing, as he started paying more attention to his movements, he started to see a pattern in Percy's attacks.

Sora removed the headphones and blindfold, and he and Percy took a short break. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah, I admit I was doubtful at first but I know exactly what you mean now."

"Tomorrow, you'll work with Annabeth, then the next day with Chiron, then the next day you will fight again in the river. Then you will go home."  
"Okay. Sounds good."

"Are you ready to go again?"

"For sure."

Sora put on the headphones and blindfold. "Here we go" he said while being spun around. Percy made his attack, Sora successfully blocked it. Then he blocked the next attack, and the next one. Sora noticed that the more he paid attention to his movements, the more his conscious mind and subconscious mind were connecting. He started to become more in control of what was going on, instead of just witnessing the raw power of his subconscious like before. Suddenly, the attacks stopped. Percy removed Sora's headphones and then Sora removed his blindfold. "Good." Percy said. Percy began to walk away, but then Sora sensed that it wasn't that simple, and when Percy suddenly spun around to attack, Sora successfully countered it. "Well, I think you're done. Good job man."

"Thanks. This was very helpful." Percy shook his hand. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay? Chiron wants you to meet him at the big house at three."

Roxas met Annabeth at the river at twelve. "Sup blondie?" He asked her. "I could say the same thing to you, kid."

"I'm seventeen, same age as you."

"Whatever, just get in the water." For some reason, Roxas liked her attitude. He stepped into the water. She went in after him. She went behind him and pushed him into the water. He got up soaking wet. "What the hell?"  
"Before you can learn to use your environment for you, you need to learn how to move with it instead of against it. She lay in water and took a deep breath. She floated on top of the water. When the current began to carry her, she moved her arms slowly, but with a lot of power. Roxas knew he should be doing this with her. He lay in the water and was having trouble paddling against the current. "Roxas, going fast will not give you an advantage in anything. It's all about technique, and smooth motions. Stop panicking. Stop trying so hard, just let the water flow right through you." The tone of voice in which she said it was calming, so it was easy for Roxas to do as she said. This time, he was successful.

After ten minutes of staying still in flowing water, Annabeth told him to rise. "Now, we run." Roxas took off but tripped and fell into the water. She helped him up. "Remember, don't try to be fast." She ran in the water, but made it look much easier than it was. Roxas got to the point where he was running as well as she was. But he ran out of breath in no time. "Now that, is something you'll work on at three, with Chiron."

Riku and Chiron met at the track at twelve. "Welcome, Riku. This, is Clarissa." He said, motioning towards a dark haired, buff girl. "She is the daughter of Ares, god of war. You'll be fighting her today."  
"Okay, but I don't have any experience."

"You learn things quicker when you're forced to do so." Chiron told him. "I will give you one hint, however. Clarissa is always on the attack. So she is very good at it, however, because she is always on the attack, she is lost as to when to defend herself." Riku looked confused. _Well, that wasn't too helpful. _

As soon as they shook hands, Clarissa attacked before Riku even had a chance to breathe. He was good at blocking her, but couldn't get one single attack in in five minutes. Then ten, then fifteen minutes. By the time twenty minutes passed, he noticed that Clarissa's attacks were fewer and fewer with more time in between. _She's getting tired._ He blocked one more attack, and then made his attempt. His first attempt was successful. He had her neck by his keyblade. "Damn. You're quick. Until now." She looked pissed and stormed off.

"That's exactly what I meant," Chiron said. "She is so busy attacking, that she doesn't know how to defend. Riku, you must have a clear knowledge of when to do each. Defense should always be your first priority, but when you see a window for attack, don't hesitate, take it. You did a very good job today. I'll see you at the big house at three." Chiron left, Riku still there, trying to catch his breath.

Three o'clock finally came along, and all three of them met Chiron at the big house. "Hello. I trust Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse told you all what to bring?"

"Yes," Roxas said, "But why do we need camping gear?" Chiron walked outside and they followed. He looked towards a tall mountain. "We're going to hike that tonight." By four, they were already on their way up. They were huffing and puffing, they didn't know how they could be so out of shape with the lives they lead. "So what is Namine doing?"

Roxas asked Chiron. "She is working on her healing with Apollo's children."

By night fall, they'd made it to the top. They set up camp, and Chiron had a fire going. They all sat around the fire. "I'm sure you all know by now that air is thinner on top of a mountain than at sea level." All of them nodded. "So then, if you train your bodies to fight, run, or anything else at the top of a mountain, you will be simultaneously be training your bodies to work on less air. If you can do that, then when you return to sea level, you will not tire as quickly as before."

"I never thought of it that way."

"Which is precisely why I brought you all up here. Get a good night's rest, and in the morning, we'll begin."

Riku woke up at the crack of dawn, surely no one else would be awake, but he was wrong. As he stepped out of his tent he realized that he was actually the last one up. "Okay," Chiron announced. "Now that everyone is here, we'll begin." Chiron began to run along a winding dirt path, and the three boys followed him. They ran out of air so quickly, but then it didn't seem to get any worse the longer they ran. Riku turned to Sora, "It's working."

"Everything so far has. I already feel so much more prepared."

When they finished their run, Chiron had them duel eachother. They all noticed that it was much easier to duel the second and third round than the first. Sora beat Roxas and Riku, and Roxas beat Riku. They packed everything up and followed Chiron back down the hill. An hour later, around four in the afternoon, they reached camp. "Okay. Tomorrow, Sora will be at the river, Riku at the woods, and Roxas at the track. The next day, you'll rotate again, then you'll be ready to return to your world."

Once all three of them learned all three lessons, they met up at the river with Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron again. This time, dueling eachother went much smoother and lasted much longer, not one of them tripped, got distracted, or fell. The matches were pretty much even, except when it came to battling Percy. He had advantages in water that they didn't.

That night, at the big house, they all thanked the three for showing them new, better battle strategies. Chiron assured them that they would help when it was needed. Just to call them through an Iris message. They boarded the gummi ship and prepared to return to Disney Castle.


	56. Final Rest

They all arrived at Disney Castle, but things weren't as they should be, the beautiful garden where Sora and Kairi shared their first kiss was overrun with weeds, the flowers all withered. They walked slower, taking it all in. The walls with the beautiful ivy growing in all the right places were now covered with thorns that were nearly black. The grass was dirt, and the bushes and ledges so expertly carved and cared for were now gone. They all took a deep breath as they prepared themselves for what this could mean.

Roxas nudged Sora. "Should we be worried?" Riku replied, "Duh" Sora thought about for awhile, but before he said anything, the throne room door opened. They walked inside to see most everything inside was still the way it was, which was a huge relief. But Mickey and Minnie were upset, and Donald and Goofy had their heads down. "Your Majestly," Namine said, bowing, while the rest of them followed suit. King Mickey motioned for all of them to sit.

"I'm sure you've all seen the garden as you made your way from the launch pad to the castle." He went on after he noticed their nods. "Things are getting bad. But it's not a bad thing, it's good. Now don't look so surprised; what this is is a warning. We now know how much time there is before we see the first wave of enemy soldiers cross into the territory. Enough time for you to all visit your home world, for one final rest. The gummi ship will be waiting in the hangar, and will appear in your world when it's time."

"How will we know?" Riku asked, "when the gummi ship has appeared in Destiny Islands?" King Mickey spoke, "You'll automatically change into battle armor." Riku sat back down. A door opened then, and Kairi appeared. King Mickey looked like he wanted to tell her to leave again, but he looked tired, and just too exhausted from everything to care if she heard. He turned back to them. "Now please, don't take this battle lightheartedly; it won't be like the ones you've faced in your past. This will be constant, no rest, no victory until there is defeat. It pains me to say this, but, there is a chance that, after the battle, the people in this room will be fewer." They looked anxious. "Yes, you may die. Some will die."

He turned his attention to Kairi. "Which is why after you get to Destiny Islands, you will stay there." Sora asked him then, "How much time…" Mickey saw where he was going with this question. "How much time until you are requested back? I don't know. I don't know if you'll see the birth of your child." He put his head down. The girl was due in less than a month, and if Sora went to battle before she was born, there was a possibility he would never meet her. He looked at Kairi, who held his gaze, before seeing the king stand up. "You're dismissed." And with a grim look on his face, he left the room.

Sora, Riku, and Roxas walked behind Kairi and Namine, who were all heading to the hangar to leave for their world. "That sucks", Roxas told Sora. Not being an affectionate person, he didn't know of much else to say. Sora didn't respond, he kept looking down with his hands in his pockets. Riku put his hand on Sora's shoulder. "You can't think about it, you need to focus. You're going to battle to provide a better life for her and Kairi." Sora looked at Riku and looked back down. "Thanks for trying, guys. But I just need some time to get over this." "There's no sense worrying about it now," Roxas told him, "For all we know, you may get to see her first. Speaking of her, you guys don't have a name yet?"

"With our hectic schedule? I'm surprised we had time to create her." Roxas saw a smile on his face. "Finally, I'm not used to seeing an emotional Sora." Riku had to agree, "Yeah, you're normally so happy, it makes me sick." Riku and Roxas laughed, Sora managed to laugh a little bit.

Namine, up ahead, heard it. "What the hell are they laughing about? What could possibly be so funny in a time like this?" Kairi, also facing down, shrugged. "I guess they're trying to make light of the situation." Namine thought about it, "Damn it Kairi, you suck. You've always got something smart to say." Then Kairi and Namine found themselves smiling as well.

The gummi ship ride home was all too quiet, hardly any words spoken. Some tears, some sighs, some shock that this was all actually happening, and way before they'd had a chance to live their lives. The date was February 20th, the baby was due on March 5th. They were all only seventeen years old, except for Riku, who had just turned eighteen the month before. They hadn't even lived yet, and it seemed so unfair to all of them that their lives may be cut short in the coming battle. Especially for Namine and Roxas, whose existence had only come to be three years previously.

Sora helped Kairi out of the gummi ship, and while Riku went home and Roxas and Namine decided to go look around the island, he walked her home to see her father. When something struck him. "Kairi, you haven't seen your dad since we last left here."

"Uh huh," then a few seconds passed before she realized what he was getting at. "oh shit." She stopped in her tracks. "He doesn't know about the-" He stopped her and kissed her for the first time in a very long time. "What was that about?" She asked him after he finally backed off. "You have no idea how much I've been wanting to do that since I saw you last…"He continued to stare at her until she snapped her fingers in front of him. "Well, it doesn't look like that's all you've been wanting to do." "Can you blame me?" Though he did feel a little stupid for making it that obvious.

"No, but I'm not really in tip top shape am I genius?" He shook his head. "You're right. I'm sorry. I love you." He took her hand and kissed it. "Now, what to do about your dad…" "Sora, there's nothing to do. We will just have to get it over with." Sora took her hand and they continued their walk towards Kairi's house.

They reached the doorstep, and both their hearts were pounding with fear. "This is worse than the anticipation of battle" he jokingly told her. They knocked on the door. When it opened, her father was ecstatic, he hadn't seen her in so long that the fact that she had a belly was escaping him. He hugged and kissed her, then realized that the hug felt different, he pulled back, about to ask how she'd put on weight when he saw the shape of the belly, and the rest of her. It was clear then that she hadn't put on weight, at least in that way. "What the-" He began. Then the smile on his face turned to a frown, and the crinkle in his forehead suddenly made itself visible. His tone got louder, and he looked at Sora. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded from Sora. He got closer and Sora backed off, then Kairi stepped in between them and put her hands on her dad's shoulders, she spoke softly, "Daddy, please, calm down. Don't scare me like that." His face was still red and his pose threatening, but he motioned them to go inside and sit on the couch, though now he watched Sora's every move.

They sat on the couch and her dad splashed water onto his face, then offered them both water, to which they both declined. He sat down and took a deep breath. "Okay, without going too into detail, please explain how this happened. The last time you left, you were such good friends, and that's it." Kairi looked at Sora, who started to tell him. He looked him in the eye when he told him. "Sir," he interrupted, "Don't try to kiss ass boy, just tell me why the hell my daughter hasn't been home in over and year and suddenly she shows up at my doorstep in this condition." Kairi raised her voice, "Dad! What the hell? Why does everyone keep referring to the pregnancy as a 'condition'? I'm not dying, I don't have a disease, stop acting like this is a bad thing!" Her dad calmed himself a little more. "That's not what I meant, I just don't understand how you guys could have been so stupid." She got up from the couch, Sora tried to help her but she pushed his hand away. She walked outside and slammed the door. Immediately Sora got up to go after her but her dad blocked his way. "SIT." Once he saw that she was safe, sitting outside on the porch swing, he agreed.

"The pregnancy wasn't intentional, not even the, uh, conception was intentional. It just happened." He groaned. "Start from the beginning." Sora looked outside again and back at her dad. "I've had feelings for your daughter since I was fourteen years old. At first, we were just friends, when the storm came and the three of us, her, Riku, and I, got separated. I landed in a new world, a place I'd never been to, I knew no one, I had no idea how I got there or anything. I felt absolutely alone. That's when I began frantically searching for them. I went to so many different worlds and fought so many different beasts in order to find them. When I finally found out what happened to them, I was crushed. Riku had turned to the dark powers to try and find Kairi, so I'd lost him, at least for then. But I knew I had to keep pushing, because I didn't know where she was, and I was worried. I was her only friend that hadn't turned his back on the light." To his surprise, her dad was listening very intently to the story. "I'm sorry, but has she not told you any of this before?" He shook his head before going on. "Then, you may not want to hear some of this." "Just go on," he told him.

"I was in a world called Neverland when I'd finally found her, she was alive, but just barely, her heart had been stolen by an evil witch named Maleficent who was trying to capture all seven princesses of heart's hearts so she could come to power over Kingdom Hearts. It pissed me off more than anything, and I didn't want to leave her there, but a friend in that world and a good fairy promised me that she would be safe. I pushed on, hoping to find Maleficent and recapture Kairi's heart. I didn't see her again until I got to your old home, Radiant Garden. Except it had been taken over by Riku, Ansem, who was using Riku,and Maleficent. I had to find my way to the top of the castle through a maze of hidden traps and secret ambushes. But I succeeded. I don't know how, for all the things I went through, I have absolutely no idea how, but I did. I reached the inside of the castle, and found myself in a room with a dark portal. I made my way to the portal, which was on a platform. When I got to the top of the stairs, that's when I saw her lying there. No heart, barely breathing. I ran up to her and held her in my arms. Shouting her name even though I knew she wouldn't wake. That's when I felt a tear spill onto the tile, and the first time I'd ever experienced a broken heart was in that very moment. I bowed my head, not knowing what to do next. When Ansem, taking Riku's form, appeared before me and suddenly Kairi disappeared. I demanded to know how to save her to which he told me that it was too late. Then I was forced into a battle with him. I was pissed and heartbroken, but that gave me edge. I used that to fuel myself into beating someone who formerly could not have been. Once I injured him enough, he limped off and Kairi once again appeared at my feet." Kairi's father had tears in his eyes. Kairi saw from the porch swing, and came inside to sit next to Sora. She wanted to hear the story told again. Nothing else in the world could make her dad cry. She sat next to Sora and put her hand on his shoulder. "Go ahead."

"Something told me then, that maybe our hearts were one. If someone truly loves someone else, then it's possible that that person's heart may be tied to the other's. It was a longshot, but it was all I had. I took the keyblade that Ansem left behind, the one with the power to take my own heart, and without thinking, jabbed it into my chest." He stopped when Kairi's dad gasped. "Did it hurt you?"

"At first. It was like being cut with a very sharp knife. It didn't hurt until I saw the blood, then the pain lasted only an instant, and the next thing I knew I was in a deep, black abyss, just falling." Her dad looked confused. "Do you want to tell him the next part Kairi?" Kairi nodded her head as she looked her father in the eye. "Donald, Goofy, and I were surrounded by heartless, little shadows that we're fighting against to this day, though now it's much easier. But there was one in particular…I don't know why, but I felt it was a ghost of something…not really a heartless. It came up to me and I put my arms around it, then in a swirling cyclone of light, Sora appeared before me. Then I put the pieces together, that it was him all along, fighting this evil at the age of only fourteen, to save me." She smiled at him. He returned it. "That's when I discovered that the boy who was my trusted friend was the person I trusted my heart to. That's when I knew I loved him."

They sat and talked with Kairi's dad for almost four hours, filling him in on their journeys after they discovered friendship was not their fate. At the end, he was more supportive of their relationship, though he still didn't approve of the pregnancy. They didn't blame him. What parent would be happy to learn their daughter or son would be a young parent? Before they'd gotten a chance to fully mature? Though the things they've gone through did make much of a difference. He was a little excited to be a grandpa too. "It's getting late," he said to his daughter. "I'll see Sora out." She nodded her head and whispered goodbye to Sora; he smiled and turned. Kairi headed up the stairs while her dad talked with Sora outside. "Look, son, I don't like how this has all ended up. Frankly, it scares me a little. Especially because you won't be sticking around for long." Sora bowed his head. "I know."

"Kid, it's too bad that you missed the whole nine months almost. Maybe the birth. But anyway, you'll be welcome in this family, as soon as you get back."

"If I get back." He said, still facing the ground. "Don't talk that way, kid. That will bring you nothing but discouragement." He patted him on the shoulder. "Good night." Sora nodded his head and turned to go home. Now parent number two is up.


	57. Destiny Islands

**Warning: This chapter has a "T"Rating**

Sora opened the door to his home very quietly, as it was one o'clock. His mother would be sleeping. All the better, he'd rather sleep before having to explain everything to her now. He was exhausted. He layed his head on his pillow that he hadn't touched in so long, and looked around his room. Posters of bands that were popular four years ago hung on the walls, ones he hadn't listened to in forever. Toy planes and trains lay hung and scattered about, and old puzzles he'd never finished still sat in their boxes. He thought about how much he had grown up, how much he had changed in just four short years. Then he thought about maybe redecorating, until something reminded him he may not even be coming back. He felt so bad for his mom. His dad died when he was one, and he was her only son. She's had a hard enough time with him away fighting, but if she knew that he wouldn't even come back? She'd fall apart.

He wasn't aware that he'd fallen asleep until the next morning when he smelt biscuits and gravy coming from downstairs. He ran down, his mom must have discovered him sleeping; she only made that breakfast for his birthdays in previous years. "Hey mom!" He ran into her arms. "Sora, I missed you so much!" She said, squeezing the life out of him. "How long will you be staying?" He didn't want to tell her the truth. "Uh, I'm not sure." He also left out the part about possibly not coming back. No sense worrying her for nothing. And if something happened, the shock would cover the grief for her, at least for awhile. It may make it easier.

"Well," She added, "No matter. I'll enjoy the time I have with you. Where's Kairi?"

"Spending some time with her dad. Speaking of Kairi, there's something I need to tell you…" His mom had always been very perceptive. He didn't even have to tell her to sit down, she automatically did. She fondled her kitchen towel the way she did when she was anxious about something. "What?"

"Well… You know how I feel about her right?"

"Yes…""Well things kinda escalated one night and…" She interrupted him, "Oh no, were you guys careful?" His palms were sweating. "Well mom, I love you, and I'm sorry, but if we were, I wouldn't be telling you this right now." She had tears in her eyes. "Mom? Are those tears of joy or hurt or…?"

"A little bit of both I guess. How long?"

"Actually, she's due in a week or so."

"AND YOU'RE JUST TELLING ME NOW?" She rose and he backed away. "Mom, I swear, it just happened, we couldn't control it…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Sora, I love you anyway. And I'm very happy, truly. I'm just… scared to death for you. And for her too. With the lives you two lead? You have no idea how hard it is for a normal parent to raise a child."

"I know. But we will figure it out." His mom sat back down. As soon as the shock wore away, she asked "Boy or girl?"

"Girl."

"Do you have a name yet?"

"No." When he said that, there was a knock at the door.

He opened it and Kairi came inside. His mom took one look at her and immediately hugged her. "Oh honey, I'm so scared for you, but I always knew you two would end up together, but…" She couldn't finish, her eyes were tearing up. "Mom, can we talk later? We have some things to figure out." His mom went back into the kitchen as they stepped out of the door.

"So…" Kairi began to say, "How'd that go?"

"Much better than telling your dad, but I feel so badly that I disappointed her." Kairi put her head down. He lifted her chin up with his hand. "Hey, that's not what I meant. I don't regret it at all. If I could have that choice in Ansem's study again, and know the consequences ahead of time, it still wouldn't have changed anything. You're the one I wanna spend my life with. We just got started kinda fast haha." She cheered up a bit. "Speaking of that, Kairi, I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was for the way I reacted the day after the whole uh…rendezvous." She smiled, but looked at her feet when she said "Okay." He knew he messed up. When she said something while looking down, it meant she was hiding something. "You must think I'm horrible for that."

"I could never think that babe, it just hurt." His head fell this time. "I'm so sorry, if I could take back how I acted, I would. You must know that."

"I do." She smiled then, and kissed him.

"I have been thinking, she's gonna need a name." Sora told Kairi, suggestively.

"I know. I'm lost on that one. I want to pick one that's strong, but also unique. What did you have in mind Sora?"

"My mom's middle name, Luxe." Kairi smiled and looked up. "I like it. Luxe it is."

"Really?" Sora said, happily. "Yeah, you should pick her name anyway." Then she looked away, as if trying to halt a tear. He knew why. "Because… it may be the only decision I'm around to make." She winced at the thought. She turned around then and wiped the tear from her eye. She took a deep breath and held a stern look on her face. "Don't speak that way, Sora."

"I don't want to, but we have to be prepared. I don't want to leave you guys helpless."

"We won't be, we have my dad, your mom, Riku, Namine, Roxas, plenty of people from Disney Castle…" Sora interrupted her with a kiss. "What I mean is, if, the unthinkable did in fact happen, I wouldn't be able to move on until I knew that you were both safe and that you could forgive me." She couldn't help it this time, her eyes flooded. "Of course." Then she took his hand in both of hers, and kissed it. She looked up at him, straight into his eyes, and pleadingly begged him. "Just, please don't."

They walked along the beach and onto the island where Sora battled Riku and then fought his first monster. "It's a shame how the paopu fruits don't grow anymore, save for that one," she said, pointing at the top. Sora glided up and snagged the last one on the tree. He gently floated back down, split it in half, and shared it with Kairi. She looked flattered. "I uh, forgot you could do that." He grinned, while biting into his fruit. "Why do you think they don't grow anymore?""I don't know Kairi, maybe because of all the evil that's been circulating. It affects the weather here, which is why it was stormy that night when all of our lives changed forever. And of course, weather affects plant life." She nodded her head while finishing off her piece of fruit. "What about that last one we just shared?"

"Mickey told me that even in the darkest of places, there will always be at least one flicker of light. It's kinda symbolic if you think about it." They stood there for a moment, each of them wondering how much time they had left with each other, when a blue-haired man came running up the island.

"Hey guys, what's up? Aw, you took the last one?" He said, while playfully punching Sora in the chest. "What Riku? You wanna go?" He said, while drawing his key blade. Riku put his hand out. "Are you crazy? Over a fruit, kid? Nah, don't get me wrong, I'd love to kick your ass but we should enjoy the last peaceful time we have here. How about a swim in the ocean instead?" Sora shook his head excitedly, pulling off his shirt. The sight of him still took Kairi's breath away. She breathed in heavily next, and Sora turned around. "I forgot something." He kissed Kairi first, then her belly. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll watch you guys."

"Sure you don't want to come in? I don't think it would harm your daughter." Riku mentioned. "Nah, actually, I wanna talk to Namine anyway…" Then she stopped in her tracks. "Hey, has anyone heard from Roxas and Namine since we arrived?" Both of them looked at each other, shrugged, and Kairi turned back around. "Where could they be?"

When the gummi ship arrived on land, Roxas and Namine took off to explore the island while the rest of them caught up with their families. Namine took Roxas hand and off they ran. "So, we've heard so much of this place. We have to see what all the fuss is about." Namine told him. "Yup." They saw the waterfall and Namine immediately pulled him over there. "I don't think there's a legend tied to this Nam," he said, laughing. "Yeah I know. It's just so beautiful. Come on, you know there is a little kid in there somewhere in awe", she said, pointing to his chest. He smirked but then noticed something out of the corner of his eye, a small, circular crawlspace on the side of the mountain. Once she realized what he'd been looking at, the two of them both stated in unison, "The secret place".

Once inside, Roxas took a seat against the wall, and Namine sat in front of him, leaning into his chest. "Roxas, look at all of these scribble drawings, you can tell which ones Sora, Kairi, and Riku drew based on the different styles."

"Or maybe you can tell because you're a witch. All I see are little chicken scratches." She got up then. "What's up with you?" She asked, accusingly. "Nothing, why?" She shook her head, maybe there was nothing wrong, maybe she was just being paranoid. "You just seem kinda insensitive with things lately."

"I dunno, Namine, maybe it has to do with a life-threatening battle approaching us, that might have something to do with it." He regretted what he'd said the minute it left his lips. And when he saw the look on Namine's face change from confusion to pain, he felt even worse. "Ok Roxas, you're not the only one fighting in it, are you? But you are the only one acting like an ass because of it. Forget this." She walked out. He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before getting up to go after her. "Namine, wait. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

He caught up with her at the entrance to the cove part of the island. She was trying to move the rock that was blocking the entrance to the side. "Let me help you." With both of them moving it, it slid with no time. Roxas motioned towards the other side to tell her to go first. She stepped through, then he followed. "Look, Sorry, okay. I don't know what my problem is," he lied. " But I'll try not to take it out on you." Namine looked down and shook her head. "Roxas, you need to learn to trust me. I trust you with everything I am, I know I could tell you anything. Why you feel you need to push me away? I don't get it. You need to let me in."

"After what the organization did to me? It's not that easy."

"I know that, Roxas. But if you love someone, you trust them with everything you've got. Unless I'm wrong about that first part."

"About what, me loving you? Of course I love you Namine. I guess I just can't show it very well." She was still looking away from him. "Well, sometimes I need you to."

No one said much after that. Both of them walked along the beach, her arms folded and watching the waves lap onto the shore, him with his hands in his pockets, kicking a of them said anything until they reached a small cave, and when it got dark, Roxas suggested they camp. He went to get driftwood to start a fire and she caught some fish to cook. Roxas noticed the weather changing quite rapidly and told her they needed to hurry. She caught two fish and waited for him by the cave, which was blocked by another rock. He pushed it aside with no problem, and when they were both inside, he shut it. They heard the thunder cracking outside, which was somewhat comforting to them since they were warm with a fire inside. The space of the cave was about the size of a small office. Enough wiggle room but they couldn't get away from each other. Which might have turned out to be a problem. You could cut the tension in there with a knife.

Neither of them said a word until after they both ate. Namine saw Roxas lay his head down on the sand, and watched his chest moved up and down with every breath. When they slowed, she figured he was asleep. Then she layed down. Her mind was racing, everywhere from how Kairi and Sora fared telling their parents about the baby, to her feelings for Roxas and to what was bothering him really, and then the battle of course would not let her find peace in that cave that night.

Not ten minutes later, she saw Roxas turn onto his side and face her. "You can't sleep either?" He asked her. "No. There's just so much on my mind." He swallowed hard and took a deep breath before looking her in the eyes. "Mine too. I think I'm ready to tell you what it is." She brightened up, "Really? Oh I'm so ha-" he stopped her with a kiss. Not a normal one, it was way deeper, with built up passion, and he didn't stop. She didn't want him to either, but when he started to reach his hand up her shirt, she threw him off of her. "God, Roxas! Is that all you can think about right now?" He stood up defensively. "Honestly? Yeah! Namine, I am in love with you. I want you to know it and I need to show you.""In that way? That's not what I meant. Do you realize that I have a pregnant friend out there who may lose her boyfriend and a niece who may lose her father? Do you know how much I'm hurting at the thought of losing you? God Roxas! I swear do you really think I'm taking this whole thing as lightheartedly as you accused me of earlier? No!"

"Look, if I die, the last thing I'll remember is a fight, so I'm leaving. You stay here and stay warm." He started to push the rock out of the way. "Wait… Don't leave."

"You can do what you like, but I'm leaving." He said in an angered tone.

She threw a twig against the rock. "Damnit. I swear if you leave me I'll bring you back to life and kill you myself. You will not die in that battle, you understand? Don't you dare. I couldn't take it." Roxas shut the rock. He sat in the sand in the pouring rain. He wasn't sure who was right in this situation. Was it wrong for him to want to be with her for just one time before risking his life? Or was he being insensitive. He was tired of waiting for the appropriate time. He did so because he respected her. But he was also in love with her. And each time he saw her, the fact that he couldn't touch her drove him crazy. It just kept getting worse and it was getting near impossible for him to handle. He picked a rock off the ground and threw it hard as he could into the ocean beyond him. Then he saw someone come up behind him…

Namine put her forehead against the inside of the cave and buried her face in her hands while she let herself finally let go of all the pain she'd been harboring inside her for so long. Roxas was not the only one who wanted this. She did too, but she didn't want to complicate things even further and then furthermore, she didn't want to fall even more for him with the upcoming war. But truth is, every time she saw him, the pain of knowing she couldn't be with him killed her more and more. She banged her fist against the wall and gritted her teeth while clasping her heart. "What do I do?" She was conflicted: Listen to your heart or listen to your mind?"

She used all her might to push the rock aside. She saw him standing there, looking at the vast sea. Suddenly the pain in his expression turned to anger and he threw his arm as far out as possible. That's when she snuck up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck. He spun around so that they were face to face and started to kiss her the way he had earlier, only this time, she reciprocated with the same amount of built up passion and love they'd had for each other for a long time. He put one hand around her neck and the other around her waist, and both of her hands were in his hair. Slowly he moved her to the ground, right there, in the midst of the thunderstorm. She kissed his neck while pulling off his shirt, then he did the same with her.

Once they realized that they actually went through with it, they realized where they were. "We're so incredibly selfish. You know that?" Namine asked him, grinning. "Sometimes you have to be. Let's go inside, you're shivering." Their clothes were soaked, but they held each article over the fire until it dried, they felt kinda stupid for letting it happen right there in the worst possible spot, and at a pretty unfortunate time as well, but the best moments of life are spontaneous. It was funny to them to sit there holding clothes over the fire, they couldn't help but laugh. Once all the clothes were dry, they dressed and held each other closely before finally shutting their eyes for good.


	58. THe Tides are Moving

Kairi went looking for Namine and Roxas. She wanted to talk to Namine anyway. Namine kept bugging her about the girl's name and now that she finally knew, she had to tell Namine. She checked the secret place, then the forts on the main island, when she headed over to the cove. She wouldn't have been able to get through had the rock been pushed properly in front of the entrance, but there was enough room for her to get through. "Namine? Roxas? You guys over here?" No answer. She checked a few of the places in the cove area then realized they weren't there. She sat in the warm sand in front of the coconut trees staring out at the ocean. She loved that her island was warm no matter the season. The date was February 21st, and it was pretty warm. Warm enough for the boys to swim at least. 

She moved her feet around in the sand to try and relieve some of the pain they were feeling because of the extra weight. That's when she noticed something that shouldn't be there. She picked it up with her feet and threw it up, then caught it with her hands. "This is Namine's headband." Then she started to worry. She got up again, "Namine? Where are you? Are you okay?" Namine slowly creeped out of the small cave her and Roxas had slept in. "Hey, yeah, keep it down."

"Why?""Just…cuz". Namine didn't want to tell Kairi just yet, but then "What do you have in your hand?" She asked. Kairi held up the headband. "You never take this off. How did it get lost in the sand? And…what's wrong with your hair?"

"Why?"

"I don't know it's like all messed up in the back like mine was when I ha.." then she peeked around the rock. "Oh…" Kairi said, smiling. 

"Namine, in the sand? Really?" Namine laughed and pulled Kairi by the hand to a more secluded area. "Alright, we've been fighting a lot. I think it's because of the sexual tension we've had for awhile. He tried last night and I refused because I thought it would be kinda selfish, not to mention a bad judgement call because of the war." Kairi put her hand on Namine's shoulder. "I don't think that. You weren't being selfish. It would be far worse for you two to be concentrating on that instead of the battle." Namine nodded her head. "I know. Then all of a sudden, a wave of passion and pain came over me at the same time, and I gave in, I got carried away, I don't even know how…" Kairi stopped her by hugging her. "Hey, it's alright. You don't owe anyone an explanation. But I know exactly what you mean. I got so caught up in the moment with Sora that I didn't think about what we were doing, though I still knew. My primary focus was on how fast my heart was beating and how much I loved him, and how good his skin felt against mine." Kairi smiled and looked away. Namine hugged her. "Thanks for being you." She looked her in the eye and nodded her head. 

Roxas woke up and saw the two of them giggling. He walked outside, rubbing his eyes. "Good morning Namine. Hey Kairi, what's up?" 

"You're the one with news, mister, not me." He looked at Namine for assurance that she'd already said something. "Well, I guess everyone knows then."

"Not Sora and Riku." Kairi told him, "They're swimming by the island." 

"Ah," he said. Namine looked at Kairi. "Are you okay?" Kairi nodded her head. "Uhm, I think so. Why?"

"I don't know, you look pale, like, paler than normal." Kairi started to say "I'm fi-" But then she let out a small shriek and held her stomach. "Namine!" Roxas said, pointing to Kairi's feet. Namine looked then looked back at Kairi. "Kairi, can you walk?""What's happening? I can't focus. It hurts." Namine said in a calm voice. "Kairi, you're water broke. Stay calm and breathe. Roxas!" She waved him closer. "Pick her up, do you think you can?"

"I don't want to take that chance, you calm her down, I'm going to run and get Sora." Namine nodded. "Hurry!" She turned back to Kairi, "IT's okay, just breathe, Sora will be here soon, this will all be over soon."

"Oh my God, it's so painful!" She said, still holding her stomach. Barely able to breathe.


	59. Unto Them, A Child Is Born

Roxas had always been a fast runner. "Nam, stay with her and make sure she keeps her head propped up, I'll get Sora." Namine agreed. There was panic in her eyes, even though she knew this was a natural process, it was still scary. "Namine, are you okay" Kairi asked, managing to laugh a little bit. "You're flippin out." Namine nodded. "Fine. Just breathe." Kairi shook her head grinning, but did as she was told.

"Sora! Riku!" Sora quit splashing Riku as soon as he heard the urgency in Roxas' voice. "What's going on?" Riku asked. Sora immediately thought the worst. He got out of the water, sopping wet, as fast as he could. Roxas caught up to him. "Kairi…" He said, trying to catch his breath. He was making Sora nervous. "What Roxas? Kairi what?" He was trying to get it out of him. Roxas took one deep breath. "Kairi, she's having the baby." "Oh shit! What do I do? I don't know what to do! I haven't thought of this yet!" Riku calmed down his friend. "Go be with her, I'll run over to my aunt's house, she's a midwife. The hospital is too far away." Sora gave his friend a hug. "Thanks I owe you so much." Riku took off and looked back to say, "Not a problem, go!" Sora bolted towards the cove, Roxas trailing behind.

"Where are they?" Kairi was beginning to have more and more pain. "There!" Namine shouted, relieved. Sora ran over and put his hand on her forehead. "How you feeling? You doing okay?"

"No babe I wasn't prepared for this! I've been so focused on the war!"

"Riku's aunt is a midwife, he's gone to get her and in the meantime we're all here for you." Kairi nodded, sweat beading down her face as she tried to suppress the pain the best she could. She'd always had a high tolerance for pain, but this was worse than she could have ever imagined. "This sucks!" She screamed, still trying to breathe. Sora kissed her forehead. "I need something Sora! Anything!" He knew what she meant, she needed any kind of painkiller, but where on earth would he get one? "Kairi I'm so, so sorry, but there's just no way…"She interrupted, "Namine, please, you gotta do something! Use a potion!" Namine felt so sad to see her friend in this much pain and not be able to help. It was so hard to tell her no. "Kairi I can't. The baby wouldn't be able to come through if I healed you." Kairi looked up, still breathing, drenched in sweat now. Sora felt her forehead. Very cold. A sign of extreme pain. He felt so horrible that he couldn't do anything to help. Roxas told her, "I know it sucks now, but in a few hours this will all be over, and you will have a daughter for the rest of your life." Kairi smiled at him but couldn't say anything, the pain worsening with every breath, and the birth hadn't even started.

"Hello dear," said a short, stocky woman standing next to Riku in the sunlight. She had very beautiful shiny gray hair, same color eye's as Riku, she held a box next to her. She kneeled down and placed a drape over Kairi's legs. "Sweetheart, keep breathing. I'll do all I can." She spoke in a soft tone, giving Kairi some relief. "She handed Sora a wet towel, telling him to drape it over her forehead. "Make sure she has access to this at all times," She said, handing him a cup of ice chips. She brought a little dark red bottle out of her box, Rum. "She can't have Rum when she's pregnant can she?" Sora asked. "During the birthing process it won't harm the child because the child is no longer being supported by the umbilical cord."

"Oh." She let Kairi drink quite a bit from the bottle. "I still feel everything!" "Give it some time." She was still speaking very softly. "Kairi, close your eyes, and imagine yourself walking down a staircase, it can be a big, luxurious staircase, or it can be an old musty basement staircase." Kairi didn't understand but did as she was told. When she imagined herself at the bottom of the staircase, there was much less pain. "This is bearable. Still the most painful thing I've ever had to endure, but better than it was."

Riku's aunt introduced herself as Molly at this time. She put her hand on her shoulders. "The rum can only do so much, and I can't give you any more. The pain will get worse before it's over, but I will do everything I can to speed the process. Let's have a look see." Aunt Molly looked under the sheet and calmly placed it back. "Well?" Riku asked. "She's at about six centimeters. It may be another hour or two, but this has gone remarkably fast for a woman her age."

Thirty minutes gone by, Sora is hating himself right now. He hates the fact that she is in so much pain and he can't do anything about it. He hates himself for putting her in this position. It's his fault. "I'll be right back." He tells Kairi. "No Sora please don't leave." She grabs his hand but he shakes it loose and takes off. Roxas runs after him, and Riku takes her hand. "He'll come right back, don't worry."

Roxas chased Sora, who's always been faster, to the secret place. Sora kicked the drawings on the wall, punched the door. Then he picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could in a fit of desperation, nearly smacking Roxas in the head. Roxas ducked, "Whoa easy Sora." "Sorry, you shouldn't be here I'll be right back. I just need five minutes." Roxas, "Sit your ass down and stop being a baby. Your girlfriend is in more pain than you know and your having a fit?" Sora took a breath, then calmed himself down and sat. "I know. I feel bad. But I just hate this whole thing, this whole life." Roxas knew this was bad. "What? Why?"

"This whole stupid prophecy. Four years ago, I sat in this secret place, Kairi, Riku and I were best friends, all I had to worry about was homework, mom made me breakfast every day. The sun always shined. Yeah, I dreamed of getting out of here. But not like this, I never asked for this." Roxas gave him a hug. Sora went on. "I'm seventeen, and I have more responsibilites than I can imagine. I have a prophecy to fulfill, my daughter has a prophecy to fulfill, my wife has a prophecy to fulfill," Roxas was going to bring up the whole "wife" thing but decided to let Sora finish. It wasn't the right time. "And my girlfriend is in incredible pain, because of me and this damned prophecy, and I can't do anything about it. We're on the brink of impending war, and I don't just have to worry about keeping myself alive, I gotta worry about keeping Kairi and Luxe alive. There's only so much I can do, and I don't understand why fate has done this to us." Roxas felt bad for his friend. "Okay, I know. But good things come out of everything you've been through. If you hadn't been the key blade master, fate would have never brought Kairi to this island. If you hadn't saved her in Hollow Bastion all those years ago, she'd still look at you as a friend, nothing more. If you and she hadn't…done what you did, Luxe wouldn't be here and she is the key to winning the war down the road. Fate will protect her, because she has a prophecy to fulfill. And we are all here for you. And for Kairi and Luxe." Roxas stood up and held his hand out for Sora. "Let's go."

Aunt Molly instructed Kairi, "Okay, it's time." Kairi started crying. "No, not yet, where's Sora?"

"I don't know kiddo but we can't wait any longer let's go." Kairi closed her eyes, then Namine shouted, "There they are!" Sora ran over with Roxas and took her hand. He kissed her lips and pulled away, and she hit him in the arm. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm here now, I'll never leave you. Know that. You can do this Kairi and I love you." Aunt Molly said, "Okay, push."

Fifteen long minutes later, the baby was brought into the world. Aunt Molly got the stuff out of it's nose, mouth, and ears, and she began to cry. She gave Sora the scissors to cut the cord and as soon as it was cut, she swaddled the baby immediately. "I'm going to go and clean her up. Give Kairi some water." Sora did as he was told. Roxas, Namine, and Riku got up. Namine said, "We'll be back. This is your moment." They walked off. Sora kissed Kairi's forehead then got new water from the ocean for the cloth he put on her head. "You did so well."

"I had no idea how bad it was actually going to be." She noticed something in Sora's face. "What is it?" She asked. He looked down and pulled a bottle from behind him. Inside was a letter with the king's seal on it. "I found this when I went to get new water." She felt tears in her eyes as she looked up at him again. "Have you read it?"

"Not yet."

Aunt Molly came over with baby Luxe and handed her to her mother. "Here you go, darlin." "Thank you ma'am, for everything."

"It was my pleasure. Rumor has it this baby is famous. The daughter of a warrior of light and a princess of heart. The world's most valuable source of good." She smiled and patted Sora's shoulder. "You guys have it from here, I've got somewhere else I'm needed." "Of course," He told her, "Thank you." Kairi had tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked upon her daughter's face for the first time. "She's so precious." She kissed the baby's forehead. "Hi, Luxe. I'm your momma." She held her baby for awhile, then looked up at Sora, "would you like to meet your daughter Sora?" He was speechless but outstretched his arms, cradling her against his chest, her head nestled on his arm. She wasn't sleeping, but she was quiet. Very quiet. She had the face of an angel. Pale skin like her mother, her mother's eyes, Sora's hair and smile, all perfectly proportioned. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and it made him forget, if only for a while, all the evil in the world.

Namine, Riku, and Roxas came over later and each had their turn with Luxe. Before nightfall, though, they needed to get home. Kairi stayed at Sora's house that night. Sora's mom met her brand new grandchild. Sora got Kairi set up in his bed and gave her a bell to ring if she needed anything. He'd agreed to sleep on the couch, out of respect. The baby was in the living room in a basinette his mom had bought when she found out about the pregnancy. His mom was in a room down the hall. He couldn't sleep. There was so much on his mind. He walked upstairs to his bedroom and walked in. Kairi was sleeping. He fixed her covers and kissed her forehead, then headed back down to check on his baby. She was sleeping too,very soundly. He checked the time. 12:30 am. He went back to the couch, turned on the small lamp, and opened the bottle from the king. He opened the letter and began to read it.

Keyblade Warriors:

Things are far worse than we'd imagined. Maleficent

And her team of evildoers and wrongdoers have

Marched on the outskirts of Radiant Garden.

We have enchanted statues guarding the fortress but

It won't be long until it's infiltrated.

We need you all back as soon as you can be here.

Fortunately, we have no reason to believe that they know

Of the pregnancy, but Kairi will be protected at any rate.

Meet us at Merlin's house.

King Mickey


	60. Drumrolls and Blood Red Sky

_Sora woke up at four because Luxe was crying. He checked her diaper but it was okay, she was probably hungry. He got a bottle out of the fridge and started feeding her. When she drank what she wanted, he set the bottle down and began to rock her in his arms. "Baby, you are so loved," he told her. "You have an entire kingdom who loves you and will protect you. But daddy has other obligations. So, sometimes, daddy may have to go away for a little while. But I will always come back. Momma too. I love you sweet girl." He set her back in her basinette. He had only three hours of sleep, but he couldn't wait any longer. He went into his mother's room. "Sora?" She said, waking up to the light that filled the room when the door was opened. "What is it? Is the baby up?""She was, but I fed and rocked her and she's back down now." She could see the fear in his eyes. "What is it honey?" "Mom, I have to go back now," he said with tears in his eyes. He hated this so much, leaving his baby, his girlfriend, his family. "You got the letter?" His mom said, equally terrified. He nodded and she pulled him into a tight embrace. "Mom, I love you. And I need to know that, if I don't come back…" She put her hand on his mouth. "I'll help Kairi and Luxe if you don't. But don't speak that way. You've got so much to live and fight for." He nodded. "Did you tell Kairi goodbye? Is she going? Surely Mickey won't let her…" "No, she can't fight in her condition. I think it will be easier if I just go." His mom understood. She moved the bassinette into her room. "The baby will stay in my room until Kairi recuperates. I love you, son." _

_He nodded and went upstairs, leaving a letter on the bedside table by Kairi, and snuck out the door, back to reality. He called Riku and Roxas and Namine, on his way to the gummy ship, and the three of them met him there. Before they left, they all huddled, and prayed for their lives, and for their families. They boarded the gummi ship and took off for Radiant Garden._

_Kairi woke up at 2 p.m. She had always been an early bird so she was surprised. She thought about ringing her bell, but hated being waited on, so as painful as it was, she got out of bed and limped downstairs. She saw Sora's mom in the kitchen, cooking. "Hi Kairi, how you feeling?""Not great, but way better than yesterday." His mom laughed. "Luxe is sleeping," She knew it's what Kairi was thinking. "And where is Sora? Down at the beach?" She paused, set down her skillet, turned the fire down, and turned around. She pulled out a chair for Kairi and motioned her to sit. "What?" Kairi asked. "You should sit," _

"_I absolutely will not sit."_

"_He thought it best if you didn't know he was leaving." Kairi began to cry and went back upstairs, when she found the letter. She sat on the bed, in physical and emotional pain. And began to read it. _

_Kairi,_

_It hurts me to write this letter and even more to not say bye,_

_But you have to understand I am thinking of your_

_Well being by doing so. I think it will be easier on you._

_I don't know how long this battle will last, _

_But I do know even if it lasted twenty years, I'd still be yours._

_Nothing on earth means more to me than you and our_

_Daughter, but this has been my calling from the start_

_And what kind of man would I be if I didn't fight for my_

_Family's future? Please know that I love you, and I love Luxe._

_I told you once before I'd come back for you, and I did. I told_

_You I'd guard your keychain, and I did._

_I won't break a promise to you for as long as I live._

_I'll come back to you. Maybe not now, or in this life_

_But you are a part of me and I am a part of you,_

_And I will always love you, and I will always come_

_Back to you. And if, and when, this war is over, _

_I am going to marry you. _

_Forever yours, Sora_

_It broke her heart to read the letter, but she was glad he wrote it. She held it close to her heart and she felt it beat harder than it ever has. She looked out the window, onto the horizon. "I believe in you."_

_The gummi ship arrived in Radiant Garden. In the town square. Sora got out of the ship first and knocked on Merlin's door. The jolly old wizard opened his door and hugged Sora. "Long time, no see, mah boy. Where is the lady?" _

"_Things didn't quite go as planned." Merlin motioned for them to come inside. Magic had made the small house turn into a large room. Mickey sat at the far back. "Hello, please sit." His trademark cheerful expression was gone. Mickey knew what had happened since Kairi wasn't here. "Well, I guess it's better this way. They have no idea about it, and they don't know where she is either. They'll be safer there. You made a good decision, Sora." Sora couldn't look Mickey in the eye. All he could think about was the reaction he imagined would appear on Kairi's face when she found out. _

_Merlin and Mickey updated the four of them on the events. "They have almost broken through the magical barrier. When they do, they'll be headed straight for the crevace." The crevace was a small pathway, leading from the base of the world up a mountain, and finally, into a monstrous, clear, wide open field, perfect for waging a war. Mickey estimated they'd be there in less than twenty-four hours. "Get plenty of rest and stock up on potions, fellas." Mickey's face was grim. He knew this battle would be costly. Merlin gave them all keys and magically created four rooms in his little house. "Try to rest. I know it will be hard." Merlin went outside and began looking to the stars._

_Namine came to Roxas room in the middle of the night and knocked on the door. He opened it and immediately let her in. Her face was grim, she looked very scared. He was going to hold her and talk to her, but she lunged at him and it was clear that wasn't what she wanted. He caught her in a tight embrace, and she kissed him like she never had before. They locked lips for minutes when she pulled him by his shirt to his bed. She layed down and pulled him on top of her and kissed him more. She took off his shirt and kissed his chest, but then froze. She heard something._

_Sora woke up to a loud blast, he immediately hopped out of bed, ran outside, and immediately, the sky was covered in red. Not just any red, blood red. It had begun. The town's alarm system triggered, which is when Riku, Roxas, and Namine joined him outside. All four of them grasped each other's hands. The alarm cut off. They heard an all too familiar voice on the loud speaker. It was Maleficent. "Meet us on the field, puny, helpless little freaks. Let's end this once and for all. The power of evil, versus the weakness of good. She cut off and the alarm rang more. The blood red sky filled with lightning and hail poured down from the heavens. They ran towards the only place they could go, the field. To meet their fate. Neither of them knew exactly what that fate was. _

_They got to the entrance to the crevace that would lead them all down to the field. All the creatures from the other worlds were there, just as they'd promised, along with some friends as well. All the town's rich population of magicians were there, wands in hand, behind Merlin. Mickey stood on a pedestal in the middle of the crowd. "The magicians will be on the mountainside, overlooking the fields, observing and sending healing potions and healing spells to wounded warriors. They will also be dealing heavy blows to the enemy when they see a window to do so. I will lead the rest of us into battle. Some will die. Don't take another step forward until you can accept that. Every single person still stepped forward. "There isn't much else to say," Mickey began, then he turned and hopped off the pedestal, walking down the crevace. Donald, Goofy, and the rest of the royal soldiers followed him close by, then Sora, Roxas, Namine, and Riku, followed shortly after._

_A short ten minute walk down the crevace, they were entering the field, accepting the fact that they may die. They walked out and stood about 500 feet from the massive amount of warriors for evil, Maleficent as their front woman. They all stopped. The evil side must have been at least twice the size of the good side. They were bigger too, more terrifying than Sora could have imagined. He took a deep breath and thought one last time of Luxe and Kairi. He looked Maleficent in the eye. And drew his key blade. She laughe and then her followers laughed after. "This should be easier than I had thought." She raised a hand in the air, while both sides prepared themselves, and then, anticipation building on both sides, threw her arm foreward, shouting, "Kill! NO MERCY!" The warriors of light drew their weapons and ran towards their battle._


	61. Battle: Riku

I stood behind Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, Sora to my left, Roxas and Namine to my right. Various soldiers of the light stood behind us. One-hundred feet in front of us stood Maleficent, the epicenter of the evil force. Her frontrunners were close by. Behind her on the left, stood Jafar. Who fought mainly with magic, being a genie before he was freed by Hades, who stood behind Maleficent and to the right. Hades was a threat because not only can he use magic, he can summon beasts from the underworld. Behind the three of them stood the Queen who had imprisoned Princess Aurora. Who had the ability to poison, Captain Hook, who fought with a sword, and finally, the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts didn't fight, but could summon a massive beast called the Jabberwocky, a dragon/snake looking beast with fangs the size of my key blade. She could summon her card warriors too, but those weren't as much of a threat as the Jabberwocky was. Behind them stood many more evil soldiers.

When we made our way to the field, and I saw them, I'm sure I'm not the only one who began to observe my enemy. I noticed three things: The first being, we were waaaay outnumbered. By at least double. Two, their variety of powers vastly outweighed our range of powers. But third, we can heal. The chances were low, but we also had unity. One thing I've noticed over the course of these four years would be that villains can always be counted on to act selfishly. If I aim to kill one of them, they'd much rather pull two others in front of them than they themselves get hurt. This, also, will definitely work to our advantage.

I believe the last thought on my mind was Kairi. I don't think I fooled anybody by pretending not to be in love with her. But, as much as I hate to admit it, I, too, know that she and Sora were meant to be together. It was so obviously written in the stars. Which is why I made myself less and less available after they began their relationship. I'll move on, but I'm worried about Kairi's state of mind if Sora doesn't come back from this battle alive. I owe it to my best friend to do my best to save him, even if it means I die. She needs him. I gave Sora a reassuring smirk, my signature smirk, to give him one last piece of me to remember should I die. Also to reassure him that we were in this together. He seemed to reciprocate. I looked forward, onto our impending destiny, when Maleficent's arm lowered and the enemy rushed towards us.

Immediately Maleficent floated back, behind the rest of them. "Cheater" I thought. A little helpful, though, actually. She is without a doubt one of the toughest people in the battlefield. It will be much better to defeat her if we don't have the rest of these assholes to worry about. When they got a little closer, our side began running towards them, Mickey was the first to get to them. Mickey jumped straight over the swarms of heartless, and began attacking one of the most notorious villains, Captain Hook. I had no doubt Mickey would conquer.

Donald and Goofy began fighting heartless. Donald could blast ten of them with one wave of his wand. "Fire!" "Blizzard!" "Thunder!" Were some of the many battle cries I can overhear. Goofy, knocks heartless into other heartless with his shield, killing them. I saw him blast three and those knocked five more over. I knew we weren't meant to be here, so Sora, Roxas, Namine and I followed Mickey over the heartless. It wasn't hard to get through. I just slashed my key blade, back and forth, back and forth, till I got through. Captain Hook was putting up a hell of a fight, moreso than I thought he would. When I looked closely and saw that one of our own wizards on the mountainside was healing him. Traitor! They hadn't seen me, so I nudged Namine and told her. She sent a gravity spell up the cliff, caught the wizard, and brought him down, directly in front of me. I closed my eyes and instinctively threw my key blade towards him. It came back to me and when I opened my eyes, his body lay on the ground, lifeless, his head next to it. There was blood all over my legs and shoes, and some on Namine as well. I felt the need to throw up, but I couldn't let myself feel sympathy for these people, they have a big enough advantage already. Namine shed a tear or two but then looked at me and motioned to go on.

The first enemy I could see was Scar. That all too familiar battle scar on his face glowed in the fiery bloodshed taking over the field. He lunged at me and before I could think, I lunged to the side, swinging back around and slicing half his tail off. He roared in pain, before giving me the worst look I'd ever seen, then didn't give me a chance to get away before he clawed my side. The pain was excruciating. I screamed out in pain, and when he thought I was distracted, he lunged at my again, going for my heart. This time, though, I ducked, and when he was over me, I stuck my key blade straight through his chest, severly injuring him. He wasn't dead, but he couldn't fight, so I left him there.

I looked over and Captian Hook had been defeated, Sora was just standing there, staring into space. "Sora!" I yelled to him. "You're gonna get killed what the hell are you doing?" I ran over there, knocking him to the ground just before a heartless had a chance to hurt him. He snapped out of it and looked confused but we didn't have time for questions. He nodded at me and shot back up, chasing into the villains. That's when I began to feel faint, I felt my side where I was clawed, and the blood was everywhere, I was bleeding to death.

Namine saw me and I called her. She healed me right away, and helped me up, when she was struck down by Shan Yu and his sword. She fell to the ground, bleeding from the upper part of her back. She lay there unconscious. Roxas shouted, "NO!" He lunged at Shan Yu and turned into another form. He spun above Shan Yu, and came down on top of him, knocking him to the ground, Shan Yu and Roxas struggled, then Shan Yu got Roxas below him and began to strangle him. I was still on the ground from when I was healed so Shan Yu didn't expect it when I stole his sword and plunged it straight into his stomach, killing him and freeing Roxas. One of the magicians healed Namine, and her and Roxas took off. Captain Hook, Scar, and Shan Yu down.

I killed more and more heartless, making my way over to Sora. When I got to him, he had just killed off Cruella De Vil. He wiped his brow as she fell to the ground. That's when I saw Sheer Khan creeping up behind him. "SORA!" Sora turned around and was pinned down, but then one of the magicians must have sent a fire spell, because he was surrounded by it. He panicked, and tried to jump through the fire, burning to death. Sora shot a blizzard spell in the ring of fire and ran through it. I had no one around me for quite a while, so I killed off heartless. I got a quick glance around, most of the heartless were gone, leaving only the villains. Maleficent standing in the back, all too familiar scowl on her face. That's when everything went dark.


	62. Battle: Maleficent

I stood in the back of my evil warriors, observing them. I was not about to be killed off. I'd rather wait and see if we can win without my help rather than exert myself over anything. I felt reassurance that I had a few of my own dark lords standing on the hillside, posing as good men. I don't know why they refer to us as evil, we're just more power hungry than they are. If anything, that would just be, er, ambitious.

Out of all these pip squeaks, the one I hate the most is Sora. He is so good it sickens me. Always looking to the Brightside, ugh, so naïve. Damn child. Eighteen years old, fought so many battles and it seems he's learned absolutely nothing. Roxas is part evil himself so why he's fighting for good I've no idea. Namine is an angel of sorts, Kairi's nobody. None of them are as much threats as Riku, however. Having "helped" Riku in the past showed me the potential he has. I wouldn't have come to offer my services had he not already displayed darkness inside of him. The fact that he came with me in order to save that girl pissed me off, but no matter, I got what I wanted out of him for the most part.

And Kairi, she… Wait, I don't see her anywhere. In fact, every time I checked my cauldron for their little pathetic group, she was never there. The last time I saw her…I can't remember. Has she passed? No, Sora doesn't look too upset. Although, he isn't his usual self either. Maybe she and Riku…No, that can't be it. Where is that stupid girl? The curiosity is too much for me. I must find her. "Queen!" The Queen from Snow White's world came over to me, of course. "Come with me to your castle."

I used my magic to transport us from the battle to her castle. "Hello Mirror."

He looked like he didn't want to talk to me. Shocker. "No need to speak any faster, I can respond only to my master." Why does he always speak in rhyme? The Queen stepped forward. "Mirror, mirror, in my laire, where is the girl with the fiery hair." Mirror replied, "She is too weak too fight, try looking in the sunny light."

"What?" I asked the Queen. "Can't you do something to get him to be more specific?" The mirror then said, "All I do is speak in rhyme, try the cauldron, look back in time." "AH! YES THAT'S IT!" I shouted. "What?" The Queen asked. "We need to look in my cauldron."

I teleported us to my castle, added the necessary ingredients for this particular potion, then stirred the brew. "What are we doing?" The Queen asked me. "This potion will allow anyone who takes a sip to go back to a certain period in time. The last time I checked those damn kids, they were in twilight town. Kairi has been off my radar ever since." The Queen glared at me. "And you failed to notice this?" I was very angry. I raised my wand to her throat. "You dare mock me?" She shook her head and I let her go. I scooped out the potion and took a sip. Everything went dark.

I opened my eyes and I was in a small, bright red room. There was a couch right below me, and paintings all around, with a gold door directly ahead of me. There was a desk to the left, and I was in what appeared to be, a study. "What am I doing here?" I realized then that I was in the background of one of the paintings on the wall. That's when I heard two familiar voices from outside of the door. Kairi and Sora. Sora unlocked the door and the two came inside, panting as if they had just been running. They sat on the sofa and were talking about random things, heartless, Mickey, Roxas and Namine, Riku, etc. I began to feel bored. And almost left, when I saw something. There was a mutual deepness in each of their eyes. Sora looked at Kairi with this, and Kairi looked at Sora. I saw what then dawned on me, was indeed, desire. "No way," I whispered to myself. They began talking about the last page. The one they had found. Kairi cried and Sora comforted her, all while I tried to keep from throwing up. Then Sora pushed Kairi's hair back in his hands, and kissed her. I was still in shock, but had to keep watching. While Sora was kissing her, she slid off her shirt, seeming not to notice. Then she tugged on his. He looked like he wanted to stop what they were doing, but then he gave in and threw it across the room. Still kissing her, he pulled one of his hands away from her hair and put it behind her back, he lay her down softly on the couch. I had seen enough of course, but I couldn't leave just yet. I had to know if they went through with it to see why Kairi would be missing.

When I was sure they were progressing and not going to stop, I left before I saw too much. "Well, well. They aren't so innocent after all. Well it's about damn time. They were making me sick with their we're just friends nonsense. Such a lie. Still, what does this have to do with her not being here?" I asked myself. I mean surely this wouldn't incapacitate her unless she had gotten pr…Yes, of course. She had gotten pregnant. I rubbed my hands together in victory. I knew something was up. Now, how can I use this information against them? They were magically hidden, not even my power could find them. However, they don't know that. I can bluff. I snapped my fingers and the Queen and I were back in the battlefield. I glanced around to see the progress. About half the heartless were gone, and four of my main villains were now dead as well.

I watched as Namine took on the evil sorcerer Rothbart, who had the ability to turn humans into animals. Namine took the first step, swinging her key blade towards his throat. But he was much stronger than she was, yes. He stopped it before it hit him, and pushed her to the ground. With a wave of his wand he turned her into a rat. Who would have thought that would be his downfall. Stupid man. Everyone knows rats can chew through bone. Which is exactly what Namine did, she chewed through his leg. If it was I, I would have turned her into an ant and stomped on her, but Rothbart is not as intelligent as I. He stood there and panicked, until he fell on the floor and bled to death. When it was over and he was gone, the spell turned Namine back to human. I saw Hercules in the distance and used my magic to weaken him. With no powers, he ran. But the Queen caught him, and force fed him a pomegranate. Her signature move, poisoned fruit. Hercules fell to the ground. Prince John snuck up on Roxas and stretched out his hand. Now, Prince John, being a greedy man who stole from people on their taxes, his ability was to steal. When he called for Roxas key blade, it flew out of Roxas hand and into his. Stupid move. Everyone knows a key blade in the wrong hands will backfire. The key blade turned and stabbed Prince John in the chest, and he fell dead. I looked to Sora, who had already taken down a few of my soldiers, was now fighting Pete. Pete was such a klutz, I knew it wouldn't be long until Pete was killed, so I sent Oogie Boogie Sora's way. After Sora made his final kill on Pete, Oogie Boogie used his stomach to blast Sora at least twenty feet. Sora, falling to the ground, called for his key blade. It came to him, but not before Oogie body slammed Sora. Sora lay lifeless on the ground. Oogie made the mistake of turning his back though. Sora was healed by a magician and he sliced Oogie into several pieces.

Madam Mim transformed herself into a dragon, and took on Mickey. Mickey didn't hesitate. He knew exactly how to handle it. She breathed fire but he froze it with a blizzard spell. He then used a gravity spell to bring Mim's head down to his level, slicing it off, but not before she had a chance to burn a few of Mickey's soldiers. Including Goofy. I laughed in triumph when I saw Goofy fall to the ground. But then Goofy was healed. The only way the healing potion won't work is if they are already dead. I shouted, "Go for the kill! Double check before moving on!"

Most of the soldiers of light fell dead. I now had left my four frontrunners, Jafar, Queen, Queen of Hearts, and Hades. As well as Kaa, the snake who could hypnotize, Ursula, and the three hyenas. That's all I need. The only ones left are Sora and his friends, and the king and his soldiers.


	63. Battle:Sora

I was dirty from head to toe, covered in dirt and blood and sweat. I looked around me at all the death and destruction and still, all I could think about was my family's safety. I felt a huge blow to my back and fell face first onto the ground. I turned around. "Hello dear." It was Ursula, the evil witch from the ocean. She waved her hand in the air and created a fire spell, but I recognized it quickly and countered with a blizzard spell. The ice met the fire and the two elements disintegrated in front of our eyes. I quickly threw my key blade down and cut off one of her tentacles, and that's when she became so enraged she used another one to send me flying ten feet onto the pavement. That's when she pointed to her right. I looked over and I saw Riku, standing there frozen by Kaa's hypnosis, and Kaa was squeezing tighter and tighter around Riku's body. I tried, instinctively, to get to him, but because of my loss of concentration, Ursula knocked me in the back of the head and I fell onto the ground again, hard. That's when it went black.

I awoke and I'm not sure how much time went by, but Ursula lay dead at my feet, looked to be by Namine's magic. The three of them were fighting Hades, and I saw Riku. He was on the floor. Lifeless. I cried, and ran over to him, holding his head in my hands. "Riku!" "Riku!" I shouted, but he couldn't hear me. He couldn't hear anything. He was gone. I hugged him tightly, and shut his eyes with my fingers. Kaa lay dead next to Riku, sliced into pieces. Looked to be by Roxas' hand. If only I would have taken care of Ursula first and then rushed over to help. I might not have been too late. He brought me out of my hypnosis but I couldn't save him? What kind of best friend am I? I cried more still, and then Mickey put his hand on my shoulder and instructed me to stand. Reluctantly, I picked myself up, though I was drooping from the grief. I couldn't bring myself to keep my head up.

"I'm sorry, Sora." Mickey told me, hugging me. "But we don't have the time right now to properly grieve." He said, pushing me back and pointing behind me. I turned around and saw the leader of it all. "Maleficent! You bitch!" I screamed as I ran toward her. She stopped me. "You don't want to do that, for the sake of your family." I froze where I stood. "What?" She looked over to Namine and Roxas, Donald and Goofy, finishing off Hades. When he finally fell, they started over to where we were. They stopped by Mickey. They were standing surrounding Riku's body. They looked straight at her. "Yes, I know about Kairi and your child." Namine gasped in horror, and Roxas held onto her. "How?" I asked, horrified. "How is not important. Point is, I have them."

"You're lying!" Donald called from behind us. "Stupid duck, would you be willing to stake your life on that claim?" Donald was quiet. "Now, Sora, I don't want to have to harm her and the baby, but see, you leave me no choice…" She began to turn. "NO!" I ran after her. She stopped and faced me again. "What do you want from me?" I asked her. She rubbed her chin with her hands. "You."

"What?"

"You heard me boy. I want you." When I didn't respond, she spoke again. "See, if I could kill you with my magic or my key blade, I would have. But mine won't work. Because you gave your life for Kairi's in Hollow Bastion, the magical barrier around you won't let me kill you. The only thing that can kill you, is that key blade, right there." She said, pointing at the key blade in my hand.

The last time I did that, however, was when I was turned into a heartless. "But last time" I started to tell her, but she interrupted me. "Yes, that is what happens to the innocent ones. To virgins. Since we all know you're not, the consequence now would be your life." I thought about it. It made sense. Magic worked a lot differently depending on that factor."See," she began. "First, you'll fall into a deep, deep coma. The chances of coming out of that alive are slim to none. Within 24 hours you'll be dead." I thought about it. "How do I know you won't harm them?"

"You don't. But if you don't stab yourself with your key blade, they'll die for sure. You don't want their blood on your hands." I lifted my key blade, tears streaming down my face and plunged the blade into my chest. The last thing I heard were screams and cries from the magicians and from my friends. Then everything went black once again.


	64. Battle: Mickey

I looked at Sora, before he was about to kill himself, and then something crossed my mind. Maleficent kept saying Kairi and his child, or the child, or something similar. Not once did she mention it was a girl, or her name. "NO," I shouted, hoping it wouldn't be too late. "Sora! She's bluffing!" Sora either didn't hear me or didn't believe me, because he closed his eyes and that key blade went straight through his chest. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

The blast from the key blade hitting him was enough to knock Maleficent off her cloud of magic onto the ground, where she was vulnerable. Then three hyenas attacked her. He saw them tear her apart piece by piece, all while she screamed in agony. Then, after she had passed on, her body disappeared into the darkness. The hyenas then came over to the group, and sat down. "You were on her side. Why did you do that?" I asked them. One of them couldn't stop laughing. Then the female of the three spoke up, "We thought it would be funny. And I never liked her anyway."

"We all owe many thanks to you."

"If you could just transport us back to our world.""Certainly." I did as they asked. Roxas carried Sora's lifeless body in his arms, crying, tears spilling onto Sora's fresh blood on his chest. Roxas couldn't hold back the tears. Goofy then walked over, Riku in his arms, also crying. I, Donald, and Namine all followed suit. The magicians were gone, the field was cleared magically of the bodies, though the blood still remained. All that remained in that field, were me, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, Namine, Riku, and Sora.

The townsfolk of Radiant Garden escorted their fallen hereos as well as the rest of us to Merlin's house. The magician pronounced Riku dead on arrival. News that hit the rest of them very hard. Sora had a pulse, but it was very faint. Merlin set Sora in a bed in his house. The rest of us waited outside. Merlin came out, wiping his hands on a towel. He didn't seem like himself, he was very somber, and with good reason. I've magically taken care of Riku's body. It's gone. I've also made each of you a pendant, with his essence. Whenever you wear it, you'll feel him with you. But also remember he will also be with you in your hearts. They all put their heads down. It was silent for a minute or two. Merlin handed each of them their pendants. Mine was a key blade, Roxas was a star, Namine's was a wand, and for Kairi, was a heart. Namine was the first to speak. "Do you have one for Sora." Merlin was silent.

"You had better come inside." They came inside and saw Sora laying lifeless on the bed. "He's alive. But I don't know how long that will last. I've no machines here to breath for him, feed him, or anything. I don't see any possible way." Roxas punched the wall in anger. Namine held him close to her but then shed her tears. Donald and Goofy held his hand, one on each side of him. I stepped outside. "I should inform Kairi."

There was nothing in this world Iwouldn't rather do than tell Kairi what he needed to tell her. I asked Merlin to give him the magic to transport myself to Destiny Islands and back. Merlin granted him the power to do so. I took one last look from the mountainside, onto the blood red ground. And had horrible flashbacks. I'd lost two boys that were like sons to me on that field. And if I realized Maleficent was bluffing sooner, I may still have Sora. I closed my eyes and the potion I drank spun me around until I disappeared. When I opened my eyes again, I was on a beach at night.

I, as worried as I was, realized I couldn't lay in bed all day while worrying about Sora being in battle. So, I played with Luxe, helped Sora's mom around the house, helped her cook. And I spent my evenings at the beach, watching the sunset. I made my way out to the beach. The first sunset was yesterday, the day Sora left. This will be my second. I sat on the pier where Sora and I sat when we talked about far off lands. "What I wouldn't give, for us to have just stayed on Destiny Islands." I thought. After the sun set, I stood up to go back inside, when my legs buckled and I fell back onto the pier. "AH!" I screamed in pain. For absolutely no reason, and out of nowhere, I had this sharp pain in my chest. In my heart… Then I realized, "Oh my God, Sora!" I felt sick, I knew something was wrong. I wanted to go back inside, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I sat on the pier, tears streaming down my face. Two hours later my mind still hadn't answered my question.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a very somber Mickey approaching me. "Hello Princess. I trust everything is okay here." "Where is he Mickey? Where's Sora!" Mickey put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry," "NO!" I shouted. The pain I felt from hearing those three words were more painful than anything I had ever experienced. I would go through childbirth a million times over again before asking to hear those words again. Mickey held me close for at least ten minutes. I couldn't stop crying. I needed to talk. I had I couldn't stop the constant flow of tears. I don't know how I could live without him. You can't recover from something like this. I'd never love again. The only thing I could do would be to just…find a new normal. I finally managed to keep the crying to a minimum so that I could talk. "How?"

"I'll explain it all when we get there. Let me inform his mother."

I dipped my legs into the water off the pier, moving them back and forth, rain fell, and I was still crying, but the tears mixed with the raindrops. I can't imagine how she will take it. If anything happened to Luxe, I don't know what I would do. The only thing I can hope is that me and his mom and Luxe can stay together, comfort each other through all of this.

"Let's go, Princess." Mickey held out his hand and I took it. "The baby will stay with her?"

"Yes." He replied. "How is she?"

"How any mother would take it if their child was in danger."

"Danger? Wait…Sora is alive?" Mickey stopped for a second and turned towards me. "I don't want you to get your hopes up, Princess. He is alive, yes. But I don't know how much longer. He's in a very deep coma. The chances of him coming out of it are well, too low to even estimate. It is nearly impossible." He told me. "But it _is _possible?" I asked him. He nodded his head slightly, I guess so as not to get my hopes up. But if there was a fighting chance, I was going to take it.

The gummi ship seemed to take even longer getting there than all the times in the past. I really hated that thing. But finally, we arrived in Radiant Garden. The most beautiful world we'd ever been too, until I stepped out of the ship. The gummi ship had landed us at the bottom of the world. It looked a lot like it did when I was taken captive here when Sora and I were fourteen. The gummi ship landed us on a platform. There wasn't any way to get us up except to climb. Little stone platforms rose from the ground, then sank, like some sort of elevators. Must have been magic. We hopped onto one and slowly made our way closer to the top.

When we reached the top, we were standing nearly on the edge of the world. Directly in front of us, was the battlefield. I could tell. The blueish stones were all painted red, red with blood. The sky looked like it was in mourning. Even though it was nightfall, the moon was nowhere in sight. Instead, were many, many very gray clouds, raining and pouring. Thunderstorms across the entire world. Then I glanced up, towards the castle. I gasped when I saw it. Completely destroyed. "Why is the world in such ruin Mickey? Didn't the battle take place here?"

"Evil inside a world can corrupt more than you know. The amount of evil in the world when you were fourteen destroyed it once. This battle destroyed its essence."

To our left, Mickey led us. We went up the crevace. I don't think I'd been there before, but it seemed oddly familiar. A short five minute walk uphill inside the ice carved walls, and we reached the hillside. One more short turn and we'd be in the town square, where Merlin's house was.

I saw Roxas and Namine holding each other outside Merlin's house. Namine was in tears, her face buried in Roxas chest. They looked like they'd showered and changed, but there was no hiding the cuts and bruises all over their bodies. Namine looked up for a second; maybe she could see me coming. I was expecting her to come running. Instead, she put her head back down as if she hadn't seen me at all. "Don't take it too personal, Princess. Emotional scars take much longer to heal than physical ones do." Merlin knew we were coming, and he opened the door just as we reached it. "I'll wait here for you Princess." Mickey told me. I followed Merlin inside. "Where's Sora?"

"He's in that room." He told me, pointing to the left and behind him. "Well can I see him?"

"You'd better sit." Normally I would bring up the attitude and demand to see him, but it wasn't the place or time. "Mickey's already informed me of Sora's condition, Merlin. I'd just really like to be with him and do all that I can."He took a deep breath. "There's something else." What could be worse than this? I thought to myself. "There was another loss in the battle. Someone very close to you." I started accounting for everybody. I'd seen Roxas and Namine outside. Mickey escorted me, Sora was alive, Donald and Goofy were in the corner of Merlin's house. Riku was…Then it hit me. "Oh my God, Riku?" Merlin's silenced confirmed it. "Oh, God, no…" I couldn't hold my head up any longer. I buried my face in my hands. You would think my tear ducts would have run dry by this time, but they hadn't.

Donald brought me water as per Merlin's request. I took it, but couldn't bring myself to drink it, much less even think or breathe. Riku was gone. No matter how many times I said it to myself over and over again, it wouldn't sink in. I couldn't believe it. I needed Riku still, he was one of my best friends, the boy I'd always looked up to growing up. I wanted to fight like him, swim like him, jump like him. Memories of him flooded my mind. When I was five, and I had just come to Destiny Islands, I met Riku and Sora in the secret place. I'd always had a curiosity. Riku taught me how to swim, dive, fish, climb. Just about everything. He was the one who suggested we all try to get out of that world. He led me the path I needed to go to realize my full potential. If I had never met him, I may have never fallen for Sora. I may not have Luxe. I wouldn't have met all these incredible friends of mine. "Princess," Goofy called to me. I couldn't say anything, so I just looked up at him. Desperately hoping for him to tell me he made a miracle rescussitation, though I knew it wasn't possible. He handed me a pendant. It was gold and heart shaped, with a gold chain. "What's this?" I asked him. Merlin told me, "It has Riku's life essence inside of it. When you wear it, you will feel him near you. Mickey, Roxas, and Namine have one as well." He looked like he was thinking about something. "And there is a reason yours is heart-shaped."

I looked on in interest. "Well, what is it? Why?" Donald went outside, then came back inside with a small envelope. "Kairi, Riku left this with Mickey. He told him to give it to you if he didn't survive." I took the letter. "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to be alone with this letter." They looked like they were going to leave, but I stopped them. "No, I'll go."

I went the only place in that world I knew would allow me to think, and to truly be alone in my thoughts. And that was the top of the castle. I traveled my way up to the top, but instead of going inside the great room, I went to the edge. I stood on a ledge very close to the top of the castle. There was nothing below me except for that ledge. I could see the entire world from where I was standing. I looked down and realized if I moved even an inch forward, I'd fall. The thought terrified me and excited me at the same time, but I got off immediately. Couldn't allow my emotions to control me at the moment. I sat on the ledge instead, and dangled my legs off the side. I looked at the envelope. It was off white colored, beaten and battered. I opened it and the paper inside was in good condition, white as snow. With Riku's handwriting covering the page.

Princess, if you are reading this letter, then that

Means that I have perished in battle.

Don't worry about me, after all these years,

Exploring these worlds proved one thing to me:

This isn't the end. I'm sure I'll be somewhere safe,

Somewhere that means something to me.

Maybe I'll be exploring even farther off worlds.

I'll see my mom again. And I'll give your mom

Your love.

I can only hope Sora is okay. If he is there I know

That I can go in peace,

I want only one thing, to know you will be safe.

I taught you to fight, so believe me, I know

You can handle your own, Princess.

I also know you hate being called Princess,

So I had to sneak it in. One last time.

But the thought of you and Luxe spending your

Years alone hurts me more than

Covering up my feelings for you all these years.

Yes, I realize you didn't know that until now.

But I can't move on if you don't know how I felt about you.

Kairi Bastion, Princess of Hollow Bastion,

I am in love with you. I'll be in love with you

Until eternity ends. I've always loved you.

But I could never tell you. Sora loves you

More than you know. And you love him.

Everyone knows you two were meant for each other.

I couldn't do anything to mess that up.

Which is why you'll only be seeing this letter if I die.

The one thing that mattered more to me than holding

You in my arms, is for you to be happy. I've seen

That happiness in you, and in Sora, since you were both fourteen.

When he saved you in the great hall all those years ago,

I knew from then on that although I loved you, it

Was not my destiny to be with you.

I did my best to fight the darkness in my heart.

I can admit, sometimes it took control of me.

I just want you to know that although some of my

Actions have put you and Sora in danger,

My heart was always in the right place. It

Was in your hands.

I hear drum rolls. It's time.

Do one thing for me, fight for Sora, just as he fights for you

Every day of his life.

Forever Yours, Riku.

My tears stained the paper as I clutched it to my chest. My chest hurt. My heart ached to hug him one last time. I loved him too, just not in that way. He was very important to me, like an older brother that I never had. It kills me to think what hiding this was doing to him. All those times he seemed withdrawn or distracted or upset. It was this. I felt absolutely horrible that I didn't reciprocated his feelings. But I couldn't do that to Sora. Sora was more important to me than anything I'd ever had, except for my baby. Still, I couldn't help but feel as if there was something I could do for Riku. Then I read the last few lines of Riku's letter. "Fight for Sora" I read out loud. I folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. After closing the envelope, I kissed it. Then I put it in my back pocket and traveled down to Merlin's house.


	65. Miracles Happen

Everyone was inside when I got back to Merlin's house. Donald, nosy as he was, the first to ask what everyone else in the room was thinking. "Well, what did it say?" Somehow I felt that Riku's farewell letter was for my eyes only. And even if it hadn't been, I wanted it that way. "Just to fight for Sora," I told him. I figured he'd leave it alone at that. "Do you want to see him now, Kairi?" Namine asked me. "He's in a coma, but he can still hear what you say to him. We've all already gone in. You should take your turn before it's too late." Namine looked like she wished she hadn't just said that. I said nothing. I walked into the room and shut the door. Then I screamed.

It was so very hard for me to see him like this. He had more cuts and bruises than everyone else put together, two black eyes, and most of all, it looked like he was dead. He was breathing, but very shallow, and very slowly. I felt his pulse, and it was incredibly weak. No amount of worrying could have even come close to preparing me for what I had gone through tonight. But I shouldn't be selfish. After all, all my friends had put there life on the line, and I sat at home. I shoulda been here. I kneeled down next to the bed. "I should have been here." I swallowed hard. It was hard to keep that lump in my throat from making me cry. I needed to say what was on my mind. "I know it was for the best, Sora, me staying home. But baby it kills me that I was comfortable in Destiny Islands, while you were going through this. The only thing going through my head right now is that I should have been here." I took a few deep breaths and blinked rapidly to keep from crying. "Sora, baby, I love you more than you'll ever know. You can't die on me. I need you. I don't want to live without you. I can't even imagine my life without you. Our daughter needs her daddy. I need my best friend. I need my boyfriend. Those words can't even describe you, you mean so much more to me, you're my protector, my soul mate, my source of happiness, the will in me to fight when everything in the world is telling me not to. You're the sun in my morning and the stars in my evenings. You're the reason I live." I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I saw his hand lying there, limp. I cupped it with both of my hands and kissed it. My tears fell onto his hand then, running down, carrying blood and dirt with it. Then I felt something. A pulse. Though it was much stronger than it was when I first came in. I looked at my hands touching his. "I wonder," I thought out loud.

I got up and kissed his forehead, holding his pulse on his hand with my hand. A little faster. "No way." I kissed his eyebrow, his lips, his chest. The pulse became stronger still. Then I kissed his neck where his pulse ran strongest. Merlin came into the room. "What are you doing Princess? My magic tells me there is more activity in his brain?"

"I don't know. I kissed him and his pulse sped up." Merlin sprouted a smile, the first I'd seen in a long time. "Well, keep doing it!" I hugged him lightly, so as not to hurt him, and kissed his lips again, for longer this time. That's when I felt something on my back, it was Sora's hand. He opened his eyes while I was kissing him, and managed to tell me, "It's rude to stare." I laughed for the first time in a long time. "Donald! Goofy! Everybody!" Merlin called. They came in and saw Sora awake. "Roxas," Mickey instructed, "Get him water." Roxas ran off. He came back not even ten seconds later, cup in hand. He handed it to me, as I was still leaning over Sora. I tilted the cup lightly onto his mouth. "Thanks." He told me after getting a drink.

Merlin told Sora to relax and don't get too over stimulated, so from then on only one visitor at a time. When Mickey went in to talk to Sora, I told everyone how he'd come out of it. Namine told me, "You're amazing, Kairi." I shook my head. "No, he came out of it. He did it. He's truly amazing." Roxas grabbed Namine's hand and they smiled at each other. Half of me was so happy and so thankful to have Sora back, but the other half still mourned for Riku. We talked about Riku for awhile, I shared some good memories I had of him.

We spent the next two weeks all together, celebrating the victory, Sora's recuperation, and mourning Riku, but celebrating the wonderful life he had and how happy he made us to know him. Sora's mom brought Luxe over and Mickey gave her a tour of Radiant Garden, while it was being reconstructed. Donald and Goofy and Merlin met her for the first time, and then Sora got to hold her. In a few more days, we'd be able to return home.

Three days later, Sora was walking, but he needed krutches, he had stitches and a bandage around his ribs and around his head. Roxas and Namine were still cut up but were healing quickly. Sora's mom helped Sora into the gummi ship and I held Luxe close to me since the ship would be spinning before landing. Donald, Goofy, Merlin, and Mickey were saying their goodbyes to us shortly before we left. "Your duties are done, kids. You've saved the world for the last time. I don't suspect evil forces will begin to gather for a long, long time. It will take some time still to heal, but your lives are now yours to live." They waved goodbye to us as we headed home, for the last time.


	66. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

**Three months later**

Sora was seeing a doctor regularly, but was fully recuperated. The doctor recommended him not to do heavy lifting or swimming or fighting yet, however. Kairi, Sora, and Luxe were doing fine, all together in his mother's house. They spend their days at the beach with their daughter, Roxas, and Namine. Though they still missed their friend, things were slowly getting back to normal. They had even scheduled a weekend camping trip in the secret place. Something they'd agreed to do annually to remember Riku and his sacrifice. Sora's mom agreed to take care of the baby for their camping trip.

The day of the camping trip was upon them. They spent the day on the island, overlooking the ocean. Sora and Roxas leaned against the tree trunk, and Kairi and Namine leaned against them. Holding each other close and cherishing their lives. When the sun fell lower in the sky. Roxas and Sora began to go collect firewood, while Kairi and Namine enjoyed the sunset. "It's beautiful, isn't it." Kairi said to Namine. "Yeah, makes me so thankful to be alive. And to have Roxas."

"Yeah, I am so thankful to have all of you alive. The only thing that would make it better would be if Riku were still with us." Namine looked down. "I know. We all wish that." Namine tried to change the subject. "So, since we got back, have you and Sora uh…" Kairi could see where she was going with this. She laughed a bit. "No, Nam. We haven't. He's been healing. That's probably the last thing on his mind. Why? Have you and…" She couldn't even finish before Namine answered the question. "Oh yeah, all the time." They both laughed. "I can always count on you to shock me Namine."

"My pleasure."

Sora and Roxas were collecting wood. "Let me help you dude." Roxas took some out of Sora's hands. "Roxas, I appreciate it buddy but I can handle it."

"I don't know, you've been through a lot."

"You fought the same battle I did, besides, I'm eighteen, I got it." Roxas corrected him. "We're in may you're close to nineteen."

"God has it been that long?" Roxas nodded his head. Sora then shook his in disbelief. "Wow. I still remember collecting this wood on this beach to build a raft when I was fourteen." Roxas touched his shoulder. "We all miss him, Sora. But the best way to honor his memory is to live our lives." Sora agreed.

Nightfall came and Sora and Roxas set up a fire on the beach. They all roasted fish, ate, and told stories. Anything to keep their minds on their normal lives. After dinner Roxas stood up and dusted the sand off of him. He put his hand on Namine's shoulder. "Wanna go for a midnight swim?" He asked her. "It's not midnight." She chuckled. He laughed and pulled her up. He took off his shirt and ran into the water, she followed. Sora and Kairi watched on for awhile, until things between them started getting heated. "Let's go for a walk, I don't think we should watch them any longer," Sora said, laughing. Kairi got up and they strolled along the beach, hand in hand, walking slowly and enjoying the night.

They made it up to the waterfall, with the shallow pool. The one by the secret place. The fresh water glistened in the moonlight. "I'm going to get in the water." Kairi shook her head. "Sora, you know what the doctor said."

"Kairi, I'm not swimming. How much swimming can I do In a three foot pond?" She shrugged and smiled at him. "Come on." Sora took off his shoes and shirt and got it. Kairi removed her skirt, shirt, and shoes and followed him. They waded in and got behind the waterfall. There was a rock ledge, not big enough to be a cave, just a little five foot hideout behind the fall. They propped themselves up on it and began talking.

"How are you feeling?"

"Incredible."

"Sora, don't lie. I worry about you sometimes. You've been through a lot."

"I'm not lying. My injuries still hurt a little bit from time to time, but I feel incredible, looking at you." She knew what he meant, seeing as how they were both barely clothed. "Sora," He stopped her from protesting by kissing her. He stopped and waited for her response. "You haven't kissed me like that since.."

"Last year, June 1. Ansem's study." He said. "You remember the exact day?"

"Of course." He kissed her again. She didn't want him to stop, but pushed him away anyway. He needed to focus on getting better. "We can't. I want to but we can't." Sora smiled. "What? You think I'm not strong enough?" He pushed her up against the rock wall, hands behind her head in her hair, and they stood up together. She didn't stop him this time. The feelings she had last time they did this came flooding back. The blood in her veins lit on fire, her heart beat a thousand times a minute, her skin began tingling. The feelings must have been at least ten times stronger than they were before. Before it was the loss of their innocence, just discovering their love for each other. This time, the heat of passion overwhelmed them and possessed their hearts and minds. Their desire greater than anything they'd ever experienced. They ached for each other. He felt the same way, her hands were on his back, clawing him, but gently. He stopped kissing her and buried his face in her neck, kissing her there. She tilted her head back and ran her fingers in his hair. They knew exactly what they were doing this time. This time, Sora managed to tell her he loved her, she reciprocated his feelings.

An hour later, they lay on the rock, holding each other, and watching the waterfall. "We should get back." Kairi said. "Not yet." Sora told her. "I want to be alone with you for as long as I possibly can." He kissed her forehead. They knew that as long as they had each other, they would be happy. There was no better destiny they could think of, than to spend the rest of eternity, just like this; in the each other's arms.

**I began writing this story in 2007 when I was eighteen. Four years later, it's finally finished. I wrote it slowly over the course of these years because I only wrote it when I was inspired to. Otherwise it just wouldn't be as good. I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoyed writing it. Especially since Kingdom Hearts 3 may never be put into production, writing this has helped end the story for me. I hope it did for whoever stuck with me to read it. Thank you **


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